Tubby Smith has prostate cancer

Tubby Smith, coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ap-minnesota-smith

59 years old....this follows Steve Lavin, 46, coach of St. Johns University who at this time is contemplating his treatment.

Waaaaay too many people but it's great that it's not hidden in a closet. Digger Phelps, former BB coach of Notre Dame and now with ESPN has made a strong effort to raise awareness. So has one of his colleagues Erin Andrews. They joined forces in the 'On The Line' campaign, check it out...

http://www.facebook.com/pages/On-The-Line-Campaign/130119993722251

energy is picking up

It's been 4 months since my last Lupron shot and it's weaning out of my system. That means more energy, less hot flashes and getting back to 'normal'. Feeling good.

I'm typing this from 34K' in the air...with my bride on our way to Cabo. Inner Circle trip and it should be awesome. fun in the sun.

Keep talking to your friends, fathers, brothers, coworkers about Prostate Cancer, we need to keep raising awareness and maybe we'll be able to get the NFL to wear light blue like they do pink.

now go out and Make it a Great Day!

one item on the bucket list done

If you have a chance to either do a Ride experience or drive experience....do so with Richard Petty.
What a hoot, 146 mph, I'm the driver, no one else in the car.
very cool

http://evans4nc.smugmug.com/Other/Kings-Experience-2011/16654354_4w255b#1255517193_NzhLwHC

kickinPC....one day at a time. :)

Steve Lavin has PCa

Steve Lavin, coach of the St. John's University mens basketball team has PCa.

he discovered it in September and will get treatment now that the season is over.
Steve is 46 years old, 21 years younger than the diagnosis age....

What shocks me is that he had his PSA checked which helped him identify he has cancer.
Why mention this? Medical students are now being taught at many universities that they should discourage men from getting their PSA done. WHAT?!?!

It's crazy, doesn't make any sense

The Summit to End Prostate Cancer (part 2)

The Summit was awesome. On Thursday I was on Capitol Hill and met in the offices of my 2 NC Senators, Burr and Hagan and with my Representative Sue Myrick. Unfortunately it was crazy busy with Congress back in session and they had a vote so my 3 representatives weren't available.

Of the 3 meetings (with staffers), the Sue Myrick office meeting was by far the best. Sarah Hale took the time to really understand why we were there and what we were asking for by way of increased awareness, support for the resolution to make September Prostate Cancer Awareness Month (kind of a no-brainer) and increased funding. We were able to educate Sarah on what our priorities are and I believe it really struck a cord with her.

It was an educational experience and one that I'm going to want to repeat...I have to in order to help get more $ and research behind finding a cure for PC and at the very least getting Early Detection testing as a norm just like mammograms are today.

Now it's important for me to keep the energy and drum beat going here locally in Charlotte to spread the word and maybe run a fundraiser golf outing or two.

Be well

Prostate Cancers, 'Cell of Origin'

Folks, some exciting news from the medical research community.....read on (even if you fall asleep reading technical articles :))

from Livescience.com:

For researchers, a key to studying any cancer is finding its "cell of origin." Now scientists at the University of California at Los Angeles say they've found just that -- a specific type of cell that gives rise to prostate cancer.

For years doctors worked under the assumption that prostate cancer arose from cells called luminal cells, which line the inside of the prostate's tiny ducts and secrete the prostate gland's fluid.

But by using a new method to grow human tissue in mice, researchers have found a new origin of prostate cancer - a type of cell called basal cells, which support the luminal cells and regenerate prostate tissue.

Cancer experts say the discovery may lead to better treatments in the future.

"Just because something looks like a luminal cell, doesn't mean it's a luminal cell," said Owen Witte, of the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center and lead author of the study published today in the journal Science.

The finding was surprising, because cells in most prostate tumors look similar to luminal cells.

"The basal cells, we've almost always ignored, and it turns out it may be causing cancer," said Dr. Anthony Smith, chairman of the public media committee for the American Urological Association, who was not involved in the study.

Using a new mouse-human model for research

Witte had noticed basal cells were giving rise to tumors in his previous research with mice, so he and his colleagues decided to test the idea in human cells.

The researchers embedded two samples of human prostate tissue into mice -- one sample of the prostate's luminal cells, and the other of prostate basal cells.

Both sets of cells were genetically altered to induce cancer. But, as the human cells lived inside the mice, researchers saw that only the basal cells turned into tumors with luminal-like appearances. The luminal cells did not turn into tumors at all.

Until now, cancer researchers say they were limited to implanting small tumors in mice and studying how they continue to grow. But observing this transformation - from healthy cells into tumors - could help doctors fight many types of cancers at their earliest stages.

"What it will help us do is to pin down the sequence of steps that take you from normal cells to cancer. That's a very different type of model. That is what I think is so significant," said Smith, who is also professor and chief of the division of urology at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

If doctors know the steps that lead to the development of cancer, then "you can intervene at the earliest point," Smith told LiveScience.

Fighting severe prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the United States after lung cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, 217,730 new cases will be diagnosed and 32,050 men are expected to die from the disease in 2010. Yet for the majority of men who are diagnosed, prostate cancer will be well managed.

"If you look at men with the most common form of prostate cancer, which is treated locally or with surgery, the five-year survival is 100 percent," said Mark Rubin, professor in pathology and laboratory medicine at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, who was not involved in the current study.

However, while many men survive, the minority of men who have severe prostate cancer have few treatment options. "Important, but yet-to-be-proven" results like Witte's may one day help doctors develop new treatments, Rubin said.

"We're not really trying to find more local cancers or early cancers, but we are trying to figure out why some men get aggressive cancers, and those are the men who are dying from the disease," Rubin said. "This is very convincing data, and very exciting results."

Rubin and Smith pointed out the findings are still preliminary.

****This is the kind of news that gets me excited and is the single reason we need to increase spending on research.

Be well everyone

Bob

Father's Day, an opportunity to raise awareness

we're less than a week away from Father's Day and I can't think of a better time to raise awareness about prostate cancer. It's time to get the 'light blue' as prevalent as 'pink'.

I encourage you to tell a friend that 1 in 6 men will get prostate cancer and if someone you know is 40 or older, encourage them to get a simple PSA test done.

This year is particularly exciting due to the FDA approving a new drug, Provenge for late stage prostate cancer. more about Provenge

April 29, 2010 -- The FDA today approved Provenge, Dendreon Corp.'s individualized "vaccine" for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer.

The action comes more than three years after an FDA advisory panel recommended approval, declaring the immune therapy safe and effective. But FDA concerns over efficacy led the FDA to delay a decision until more data became available.

Provenge doesn't cure prostate cancer or prevent it from getting worse over time. But it does extend survival -- by months for most patients, by years for some.

Provenge isn't your everyday vaccine. It's an immune therapy created by harvesting immune cells from a patient, genetically engineering them to fight prostate cancer, and then infusing them back into the patient.

For me what's exciting is this will give new energy to finding a cure for Prostate Cancer, hopefully in my lifetime.

Spread the word this Father's Day.

Be well

One Year ago today I was told......

"your biopsy results are positive, you have prostate cancer. Your Gleason score is a 9 out of 10 which is not good."

It was a Monday morning that life changed a year ago. While I was feeling a ton of anxiety because of the high PSA tests, hearing these words, the confirmation was a wake up call to say the least.

My attitude immediately switched to one of...."Okay, what's next, how do we beat this sh_t."
The battle begins and for me, it starts mentally. I'm naturally a 'glass is half full' kind of guy and here is where I really need it because I'm the 'marker' that my family will follow...if I'm upbeat, they will be positive, if I'm down and out, they will get scared, especially the kids.

More tests to come but in my mind, I'm ready for the challenge.

The Journey begins...