UPDATE
n°135 | October 23, 2020
In this issue:

EU must tackle early detection and awareness

European Prostate Cancer Awareness Day coalition sets agenda for action
9 Oct 2020

Are we measuring quality of life effectively?

Join a web event discussing the issues
20 Oct 2020
Prostate Research and Treatments

Living with Abiraterone and Advanced Cancer

We don’t often publish individual prostate cancer stories but this one was so dramatic that perhaps readers will be interested.   Tony is a guy who has enjoyed running for decades. He has run marathons and Ultra-marathons. This intensive running has played a significant part in his life.  Yet one day he ran into trouble:

“…I was completely asymptomatic until February 2017 when I started with a niggling runners’ groin strain whilst training to take part in an ultra-marathon in South Africa in early June 2017. The groin strain worsened so much that I had it checked by a sports injuries doctor and we pre-arranged a MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan…”

“I was diagnosed in May 2017, aged just 60, with a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level of 129, Gleason 5+4 with metastases pretty much throughout my skeleton from pelvis to skull…”

Tony tells how he stumbled across abiraterone before he had commenced a course of chemotherapy. He describes how his antiandrogen treatment and his medical team has enabled him to resume his running.  His account is backed up by the review of his story by an oncologist and by a cancer nurse specialist. Tony’s story is told from a UK perspective and his account of the NHS may vary significantly to what is available in other European countries.

Read more here.

2020 Treatment Guidelines for Advanced PCa

The professional organisations representing the clinicians treating prostate cancer spend significant resources on reviewing and updating treatment guidelines.  For several years the patient has also been represented in these deliberations – currently Erik Briers, Belgium.   The recent guidelines are made by a range of organisations representing urologists, nuclear medicine and radiation oncologists as well as oncologists specialising in old-age medicine.

This article summarises the guidelines for the treatment of relapsing, metastatic, and castration-resistant prostate cancer. These guidelines are evidence based and guide the clinician in the discussion with the patient on the treatment decisions to be taken. These guidelines are updated every year; this summary spans the 2017-2020 period of new evidence.

The abstract is available by clicking here.

Can Monitoring for AS Men be Reduced?

At this time many men diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer are recommended to postpone radical treatment by pursuing an alternative treatment known as Active Surveillance. As patients soon discover the active surveillance regime has earned the use of the word “active”. It requires repeated assessments, including PSA tests and biopsies. These may give rise to increased anxiety, risk of infections and complications as well as cost. This American study, PASS (the Canary Prostate Active Surveillance Study) sought to identify the factors that can be used to identify those men who can postpone or widen the intervals for their assessments.

PASS is a multicenter study initiated in July 2008, with a median follow-up period of 4.1 years. Men with prostate cancer managed with active surveillance from 9 North American academic medical centers were enrolled. Blood tests and biopsies were conducted on a defined schedule for least 5 years after enrollment. Men with Gleason grade group 1 prostate cancer diagnosed since 2003 and enrolled in PASS before 2017 with at least 1 confirmatory biopsy after diagnosis were included. A total of 850 men met these criteria and had adequate follow-up.

The findings, published in JAMA Oncology 8 October 2020, suggest that frequency of patient monitoring in active surveillance can be modified based on an individual’s risk parameters and that many men may be safely monitored with a substantially less intensive surveillance regimen.

Europa Uomo News

EMUC2020 and EUPROMS

The virtual EMUC congress will take place on November 13-14, 2020.

André Deschamps’ presentation on EUPROMS is scheduled for Friday, November 13th, 2020 from 15:05 – 15:15 in the Plenary Session 3: ‘Highlights in GU Cancers’ running from 14:45 to 15:30.

For more information, see congress site here.

Items of Interest

Fighting Cancer Inequalities in Europe'

Through the ECPC, Challenge Cancer Intergroup on Cancer is inviting you to attend their online webinar on The Cancer Momentum: Fighting Inequalities in Europe which will take place on Thursday, 29th October 2020 from 9:00 until 10:30 CET. Please find the draft agenda here and register via this link.

With Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, the Horizon Europe’s Cancer Mission focusing on funding and expertise on key research challenges; the EU4Health programme to improve surveillance, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer and the launch of the European Parliament ‘Challenge Cancer’ Intergroup we are experiencing a true cancer momentum.

Not only on the European level patient organisations, academia and policy makers are on a mission. The Central European Cooperative Oncology Group (CECOG) has been working with an interdisciplinary group of experts to fight the profound disparities in cancer incidence and treatment outcomes as well as accessibility to cancer care within Europe.

Join us for a debate on how to work together to tackle inequalities in access to cancer care.

Please register until 28th October 2020, 20:00 CET.

Stop Cancer at Work - Campaign Launch

Cancer is now the leading cause of work-related deaths in the EU, with more than 100,000 cancer deaths each year. From nurses to cleaners, workers and patients across the EU are threatened by being exposed to deadly carcinogens, mutagenics and re-toxic substances in the workplace.
Stop Cancer at Work’s works to eradicate occupational exposure to deadly substances and end work-related deaths from cancer.
The campaign is hoping to raise awareness and strengthen support to ensure that the European Commission takes appropriate measures to protect workers and patients across the EU.
The time for debate is over, the time to act to protect those who protect us is now.

You can find more on the campaign here.

European Patient Innovation Summit 2020

European Patient Innovation Summit – EPIS 2020 is a virtual Patient Advocacy conference involving more than 500 Patient Advocates in different disease areas.

The theme is really interesting and concerns all patients, regardless of disease area: “Patients in a digital world: Making the most of new opportunities for engagement arising from COVID-19”

EPIS is happening every year in November and this year it was decided to take the opportunity to invite Prostate Cancer Advocates as well.

This year the summit is happening on 5th November from 10am to 16 pm CET with 2 afternoon 1.h pre- summit webinars on 22nd and 29th of October.

Please find the agenda here and register through this link.

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