The Prostate Net

07/20/2025

A recent study by researchers from the Karolinska Institute investigated the effect of physical activity after a prostate cancer diagnosis on both overall and prostate cancer–specific mortality in a large cohort.

"There is consistent evidence linking increased physical activity to reduced all-cause mortality among cancer survivors, as well as reductions in breast and colon cancer–specific mortality. Among male cancer survivors, higher levels of physical activity have also been associated to both all-cause and cancer-specific mortality. Although increased physical activity was associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer in a recent meta-analysis, very little is known about the association between post-diagnosis physical activity and survival among patients with prostate cancer."

"In conclusion, our study confirms and further strengthens the results from previous studies indicating positive effects of physical activity on survival after a prostate cancer diagnosis. We found that higher levels of total MET-h/d from recreational physical activities and longer time spent walking/bicycling, performing household activities, and exercising were associated with lower overall mortality rates. In addition, longer time spent walking/bicycling and exercising was also seen to decrease prostate cancer–specific mortality rates."

Read the article at:

Abstract. Background: Few studies have investigated the association between post-diagnosis physical activity and mortality among men diagnosed with prostate cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of physical activity after a prostate cancer diagnosis on both overall and prostate...

07/18/2025

Top Spanish hospitals adopt the MAF Test to improve breast cancer treatment.

This groundbreaking test helps oncologists determine which breast cancer patients should be treated with bisphosphonates to improve their prognosis and survival.

Read the article at:
https://www.irbbarcelona.org/en/news/institutional/top-spanish-hospitals-adopt-maf-test-improve-breast-cancer-treatment?

The IRB Barcelona spin-off Inbiomotion announces that the MAF Test® will be available as of today in the Hospital del Mar (Barcelona), the Clínic Barcelona Comprehensive Cancer Center, the centres belonging to HM Hospitales in the Autonomous Community of Madrid, and the International Breast Cancer...

07/16/2025

Androgen deprivation therapy — known as ADT — is a hormone treatment that's commonly prescribed for men with advanced prostate cancer because it blocks the testosterone on which the cancer feeds.

It slows the progress of the cancer, but the side effects can be so debilitating that some men have chosen to take their own lives.

PCFA chief executive Anne Savage said both doctors and patients need to be made more aware of the mental health risks of ADT. About 12 per cent of men diagnosed with prostate cancer will experience suicidal ideation.

Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) wants all men diagnosed with prostate cancer to be screened for distress and referred to a specialist nurse trained in providing ongoing psychological care.

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Androgen deprivation therapy is a lifesaving therapy used by thousands of men each year, but some patients are warning of serious mental health risks.

07/13/2025

"In the current anti-immigrant political environment in the United States, what will happen when immigrants who work in the health care system are forced to leave?

The United States already has been grappling with severe health care worker shortages, which are projected to worsen over the next few years. For aging populations the forecast is especially dire.

The physically demanding nature of direct care work (home health aides, personal care aides, and certified nursing assistants), combined with low pay and high susceptibility to exploitation, makes these roles unattractive to U.S.-born and highly skilled foreign-born workers. Indiscriminate mass-deportation policies not only infringe on basic civil liberties but may also exacerbate existing worker shortages.

Immigration policy must therefore protect the dignity of people who dedicate their lives to caring for others, The recent deportation of immigrant health care workers is our canary in the coal mine: policymakers must act swiftly, or risk endangering the health of us all."

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Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Who Will Care for America? Immigration Policy and the Coming Health Workforce Crisis, The New…read more

07/01/2025

The future of research in America is fleeing.

https://www.politico.eu/article/meet-first-academic-refugees-fleeing-us-france-science-program/?

Aix-Marseille University is wooing researchers who feel targeted by the Trump administration.

06/24/2025

The Matthew effect describes how scientists who win grant funding early in their careers are more likely to have success later on.

"But the latest study, described in a working paper posted on the preprint platform Figshare on 12 June, is the largest of its kind, and the first to look at trends across different funders and countries.

In 2018, a landmark paper co-authored by Bol was the first to use funding data to show2 that junior researchers in the Netherlands who narrowly secured an early-career grant from the national funder later outperformed those who just missed out, and were 50% more likely to become professors — despite the two groups having similar publication and citation records when they first applied.

To see whether the pattern persists more broadly, Vincent Traag, a computational social scientist at Leiden University in the Netherlands, and his colleagues expanded on this experiment with data on more than 100,000 grant applications to 14 funding programmes in Canada, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and Austria."

Read the article at:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01952-w?

Largest study of its kind explores the ‘Matthew effect’ in research.

06/10/2025

I am honored to announce that I have been selected to join The Lancet Oncology Commission on Cancer Genomics, which aims to address challenges and improve global access to personalized cancer care.

Led by the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC-ARGO), it will explore implementation, access, and sustainability of precision oncology, data management, and ethical considerations. The commission will propose solutions to enhance cancer control, reduce disparities, and accelerate research in this area.

06/02/2025

National Academies to Host Workshop Detailing Strategies and Interventions to Strengthen Support for Family Caregiving and to Alleviate Caregiver Burden

As the U.S. population ages and the number of individuals living with serious illnesses such as cancer, dementia, heart disease, and Parkinson's disease continues to grow, family members and others will increasingly find themselves in the position of caregiver.

The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine will host a hybrid public workshop, June 5-6, to consider evidence-based interventions and strategies that effectively address the physical, mental, and financial challenges of caregiving.

For information and registration, see: https://events.nationalacademies.org/44323_06-2025_strategies-and-interventions-to-strengthen-support-for-family-caregiving?

Register for this event from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

05/28/2025

Harvard researchers devastated as Trump team cuts nearly 1,000 grants.

An e-mail to Harvard from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) lists 193 grants worth nearly $150 million as being terminated, and one from the US Department of Defense (DoD) logs 56 grants worth $105 million. Other cuts are smaller: for instance, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Housing and Urban Development each terminated three grants. But by far, the largest tranche comes from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world’s largest funder of biomedical science: it is cutting more than 600 grants worth about $2.2 billion over multiple years.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01645-4?

Nature talks with scientists about an uncertain future as the US government lays siege to their university.

05/26/2025

Radiotherapy is a standard treatment option that offers outcomes comparable to surgery, particularly for localized disease, in men diagnosed with prostate cancer. However, traditional radiotherapy schedules typically span several weeks, which can be burdensome for patients and put pressure on healthcare structures and radiotherapy capacity.

In a recent study, led by researchers in Sweden, it was found that delivering precision radiotherapy over just two and a half weeks is equally successful in beating prostate cancer as the standard eight-week approach. A decade after treatment, both options produced similar disease control rates and survival.

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Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men worldwide, accounting for more than 1.4 million new cases each year.

05/14/2025

In his new book "Super Agers", physician-scientist Eric Topol reports on his takeaways from the 'Wellderly' study, which looked at more than 1,400 unusually healthy people over 80 years old.

He argues that we now have the tools to age better than our predecessors; read the article at: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/well/live/eric-topol-longevity-tips.html?

In his new book, “Super Agers,” the cardiologist Dr. Eric Topol argues that we now have the tools to age better than our predecessors.

05/07/2025

Drinking champagne, eating more fruit, staying slim and maintaining a positive outlook on life could help reduce the risk of a sudden cardiac arrest, the world’s first study of its kind suggests.

Read the article at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/29/drink-champagne-reduce-risk-sudden-cardiac-arrest-study-suggests?

Maintaining a positive mood and eating more fruit may also help lower risk, researchers find