An Essential Guide to Managing Prostate Cancer for Patients and their Families
May 31, 2010
There are at least half a million reasons—the number of prostate cancer diagnoses in the U.S. and Europe—to read this engaging diary/resource written from the alternating perspectives of doctor and patient. But those who've faced any cancer crisis should also take heed—and heart—from cultural anthropologist Blum, who's lived with prostate cancer for two decades, and oncologist Scholz, an associate clinical professor at USC School of Medicine, who champions "testosterone inactivating pharmaceuticals" for earlystage disease—these reduce levels of testosterone, which prostate cancer cells need to grow. Among cancers, prostate cancer "is the best deal in town," Blum argues—a slow-growing cancer that demands a slow-go approach, second opinion, and, in his own case, a decision to do no more than watch-and-wait. He then gamely examines his own fear-driven homework on standard and alternative treatments: prostatectomy, cryosurgery, radiation, chemicals, and alternative approaches like Eastern medicine and lifestyle changes. Yet in the end, Blum notes, it's the "insight and involvement of the individual" that makes the difference in a patient's outcome. Here's good advice based on the brave experiences of two compatible souls and medical mavericks.
July 1, 2010
Blum ("The Book of Runes", a cultural anthropologist who has been living with prostate cancer (PCa) for 20 years, and his oncologist, Scholz, present an overview of therapies and some of the latest scientific advances in PCa management. Although almost 200,000 American men receive the devastating diagnosis of PCa annually, the authors emphasize that there are three stages of PCa: low risk, which can be safely monitored with no immediate treatment; intermediate risk, which may be treated with a variety of therapies; and, the least common, high risk, which requires immediate attention and often invasive therapy. A key observation is that since low- and intermediate-risk PCa are the most common diagnoses, men should not rush to radical therapies without fully understanding the serious and irreversible implications of invasive therapies. Being PCa afflicted, Blum relates here experiences exemplifying that caution, patience, and a careful search of the available therapeutic spectrum including "active surveillance"—the goal of which is to restrict treatment to those who really need it—can lead to beneficial decision making. VERDICTAn up-to-date layperson's overview of available PCa choices. A good selection for consumer health collections.—James Swanton, Harlem Hosp. Lib., New York
Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
August 1, 2010
Each year nearly 500,000 men in both the U.S. and Europe are informed that they have prostate cancer. Along with this frightening news comes pressure from urologists, most of them surgeons, to undergo a radical prostatectomy and avoid a potential death sentence. Yet according to the authors of this eye-opening study of prostate cancer and its current treatment protocols, fully 80 percent of these surgeries are unnecessary. Unlike more lethal cancer varieties, such as breast and lung, prostate cancer is more frequently a milder health condition, and most men live with it for decades, eventually passing away from other causes. Blum, a veteran author and 20-year prostate cancer survivor himself, gives the much-needed patients viewpoint here, while Scholz, a board-certified oncologist, presents the medical perspective. Together, in two dozen lucid and engaging chapters, the pair offers a balanced guide to navigating through the thicket of doctors, biopsies, incontinence and impotency risks, and the latest surgical and noninvasive treatment options. An indispensable guide for newly diagnosed and aging males, and their loved ones.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)