Stay in the Game

Dr. Stacy Loeb, a lead on a team of researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, presents findings from a recently published study on women's sexual health and quality of life when their partner is on the prostate cancer journey. The study uncovered key challenges faced by patients' wives and female partners. Dr. Loeb explains the evaluative survey developed to help patients and their partners identify sex life issues and determine the best ways to address these problems. Program Notes Find a sex educator or sex therapist: https://www.aasect.org/referral-directory Find a sexual medicine specialist: https://app.v1.statusplus.net/membership/provider/index?society=smsna Link to questionnaire on the PCF website: https://www.pcf.org/sexual-health-changes/impact-of-prostate-cancer-on-partners-sexual-quality-of-life/

Dr. Allison Applebaum discusses the timely topic of care partnering with a loved one experiencing chronic illness, such as prostate cancer in this National Family Caregivers Month episode. She presents key aspects of successful and balanced caregiving from her recently published book Stand By Me: Navigating Modern, Meaningful Caregiving, and touches on the unique challenges faced by care partners of patients on the prostate cancer journey.

For many of us, our urologists arrived in our lives at a time of crisis and have confined their care to managing our prostate cancer diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. But in an engaging conversation with host Ed Randall, Dr. Michael Volpe walks us through the gamut of urinary and reproductive organ conditions a urologist might encounter in a clinical practice. Dr. Volpe also suggests that as we age, we might want to consider adding a urologist to our medical team.   Dr. Volpe also shared stories about meeting his wife Isabelle in medical school in 1990 and bonding over their mutual love of catching the #4 train to take in Yankees games from their regular seats in the bleachers. And, of course, there is the surreal (and joyful) experience thirty-four years later of his son Anthony playing shortstop for his parents' favorite team.

Negative side effects of prostate cancer treatment can leave men facing the physical and emotional challenges of erectile dysfunction. Yet, prostate cancer patients do not have to resign themselves to permanent erectile dysfunction or the complete loss of sexual function as a side effect of their treatment. Urologist and men's sexual health specialist, Dr. Amy Pearlman believes “every man can be helped to regain control of their sexual health” through individualized therapy regimens. Over the course of the conversation, Dr. Pearlman outlines a number of treatment options and methodologies to help address sexual dysfunction.

Before he created The Active Surveillor.com, Howard Wolinsky was a medical writer for the Chicago Sun-Times for nearly thirty years and a regular contributor to MedPage Today and Medscape. When he was diagnosed with Gleason 6 (now also called GG1) prostate he said no thanks as he was being rushed to take on a radical treatment option. Thirteen years down the road from his cancer diagnosis he is one of the country's most passionate advocates for active surveillance as a first (and possibly forever) step to indolent/favorable diagnoses of prostate cancer. Program Notes Links for Howard Wolinsky Howard Wolinsky on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/howardwolinsky Subscribe to The Active Surveillor: https://howardwolinsky.substack.com/ Howard's story in STAT News: https://www.statnews.com/2022/01/11/active-surveillance-for-prostate-cancer-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving/ How Wolinsky became an advocate: https://www.medpagetoday.com/hematologyoncology/prostatecancer/63251 Links for Active Surveillance Feature on Active Surveillance in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/well/live/before-prostate-surgery-consider-active-surveillance.html Most men with low-risk prostate cancer now opt for acttive surveillance. or monitoring: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/974009 More than 60% of U.S. men with low-risk prostate cancer are now opting for active surveillance or monitoring: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/974009 Additional Links for Prostate Cancer Understanding why Secretary Austin wanted to keep his cancer a secret, but how he can help other patients by opening up: https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/apatientsjourney/108309 The risks of transrectal biopsies: https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/apatientsjourney/92201 The debate between transrectal and transperineal prostate biopsy methods: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/991496 Is low-risk disease really prostate cancer? https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/apatientsjourney/90601

Named by Forbes Magazine in a cover story as The Man Who Changed Medicine, Michael Milken is the founder of the Prostate Cancer Foundation (1993). Recently, Esquire named him one of the 75 “Most Influential People of the 21st Century.” In a wide-ranging conversation with host Ed Randall, Milken provides insights about exciting advancements in the diagnosis, treatment, and eradication of prostate cancer. Program Notes Michael Milken's website: mikemilken.com  The Prostate Cancer Foundation website: www.pcf.org Website for the Center for Advancing the American Dream: https://milkeninstitute.org/centers/center-for-advancing-the-american-dream Faster Cures: Accelerating the Future of Health (April 2023): https://fastercuresbook.com/   This episode of the Stay in the Game podcast is supported by Bayer.

MRI-guided radiotherapy has brought new treatment protocols and staffing models to prostate cancer oncology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, according to educator/researcher/clinician, Dr. Jonathan Leeman. “Seeing while we treat” has made cutting-edge SBRT radiation delivery a game-changer for his patients.

Leading physician and Cyberknife pioneer, Jonathan Haas, MD, is the Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at NYU Long Island School of Medicine. In a recent conversation on our highly rated Stay in the Game podcast, Dr. Haas eloquently talked through the many treatment options for prostate cancer – and how bringing a holistic approach to treating the disease provides patients with more options for their care.