You’ve just been told that your doctor wants you to have a biopsy of your prostate to rule out prostate cancer. What exactly is a biopsy and how is it done?

A biopsy is a test that allow your doctor to remove a small amount of tissue from the prostate and send it to a lab for testing. A needle biopsy is - as the name implies - done with a needle rather than with surgery.

Click on the TV screen below to watch a quick video explaining how a prostate needle biopsy is done. Just scroll down a bit when you get to the video page:

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Image: iStock.com

Medical tests aren’t always invasive or embarrassing, sometimes they’re as simple as a quick blood test. Even then, it’s surprising how often some people will avoid them as much as possible.

While not all tests are fool proof, many routine tests could help detect a potentially severe or even fatal illness. Here are 7 tests that you should consider asking your doctor about. He or she may tell you that you don’t fall into the risk categories, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

1- Cholesterol levels.

We hear about good cholesterol and bad cholesterol - which is which and what is what? The so-called good cholesterol is high-density lipoprotein , or HDL. You want to have this so remember that you want your H DL to be High . The low-density lipoprotein , the LDL, is the so-called bad cholesterol. You want the L DL to be Low . Read more

Women can’t get prostate cancer, just as men can’t get uterine cancer. But, women are affected by prostated cancer just the same, when someone they love is diagnosed with it.

Men who develop prostate cancer are becoming more open about it and that’s a good thing. This allows them to connect with other men who have or had it, and it allows them to research it and learn as much as they can. But what about their wives, sisters, mothers, daughters, female friends? Where can they turn for help?

The American and Canadian Cancer Societies, and many others, do a great job in providing what support they can. They’re wonderful sources for information and links to other places. There’s also now another place called HisProstateCancer.com .

The site says:

This web site was created to help you during this difficult time. It provides information to support you and your loved one as you make important decisions, such as choosing among the many treatment options. It also provides information about potential problems or concerns that may arise before or after treatment.

What does it offer?

There is basic information on prostate cancer (Prostate 101 ), discussion about treatments , sex life , and communication , among other topics. There is also a section with helpful tips, ranging from Ways to help support your man to “Bill of Rights” for wives and partners.

Why not check it out and see what you think?

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Images: MorgueFile.com, iStock

Awhile back I talked about how pomegranates were the newly marketed fruit, This was before the big Acai explosion. Recent studies show that the polyphenols in pomegranates helps to reduce prostate cancer cell growth.

Image: Newscom

A new study in The Journal of Urology found pomegranate juice slows the doubling time of prostate specific antigen (PSA). PSA’s are used to track and diagnosis prostate cancer. For the study, participants, 48 men with rising PSA levels after surgery or radiotherapy, who drank one glass of pomegranate juice each day, had longer doubling times during a 56 month follow-up than men not drinking pomegranate juice; Nutra Ingredients investigates.

Pomegranate juice is wonderful and while craving up a pomegranate can be quite a task, it’s well worth every second. While the Pom boom has kind of fizzled, this isn’t a fruit to consume because it’s “the cool health kick” of the moment. Concentrated Pomegranate juice may be a bit pricey but the fruits run about a buck and you don’t have to eat one every day to reap the benefits.

It may be heresy to say this. But, just as there’s a debate about how effective breast self examination is, there’s now a similar debate about annual prostate cancer screening.

The National Cancer Institute has issued a press release discussing a new report from a study by the  Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial. It says that “6 annual screenings for prostate cancer led to more diagnoses of the disease, but no fewer prostate cancer deaths.”

The press release goes on to say,

“What this report tells us is that there may be some men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer and have the side-effects of treatment, such as impotence and incontinence, with little chance of benefit,” said John E. Niederhuber, M.D., director of the NCI. “Clearly, we need a better way of detecting prostate cancer at its earliest stages and as importantly, a method of determining which tumors will progress.

This is a significant finding because if treatment isn’t going to be beneficial, then what’s the point of spending the money and living through the stress of knowing you have prostate cancer?

The researchers aren’t saying “don’t go get screened,” but at this point, they are wondering what the best approach is, given what they’re learning from the study.

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Image: MorgueFile.com

Some hormone-blocking drugs may not be beneficial to the elderly prostate cancer patients.

Such were the findings of a new prostate cancer study.

A prostate cancer study that could change how doctors treat some patients found that widely used hormone-blocking drugs did not improve survival chances for older men whose disease hadn’t spread.

In fact, men given the drugs alone were slightly more likely to die of prostate cancer during the next six years than men who’d gotten medical monitoring but no or delayed treatment, another common treatment approach.

The study involved nearly 20,000 Medicare patients with prostate cancer that hadn’t spread. A surprising 41 percent got only drug treatment, in shots or implants, showing that the therapy has become a popular alternative to surgery and radiation, the study authors said.

Well…hopefully the doctors will change their advice on course of treatment, right? Indeed it is always tricky which course of treatment will work with every patient. I don’t know, sometimes I feel that we are at the mercy of our doctors and science itself with regards to cancer. But of course, I don’t wanna be totally negative about what cancer drugs do to the patient. Know what I mean?

Read more from AP.

As proclaimed by President George W. Bush on April 1, 2008 in lieu of Cancer Control Month 2008:

During Cancer Control Month, we honor cancer victims and survivors, raise awareness of the impact cancer has on our citizens, and underscore our commitment to battling this deadly disease.

Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the United States, and we remain committed to making the medical advances necessary to prevent and treat this disease.

Scientists and medical professionals have made great progress in developing innovative treatments, improving diagnostic tools, and increasing our understanding of cancer. These advances have helped people with cancer live longer, healthier lives.

Cancer Control Month is April — and the word the first comes to mind (each time I think of cancer) is hope. HOPE. There should always be hope, me thinks. Despite the difficulties in finding the cure, despite the difficulties in surviving cancer.

The official website of the American Cancer Society has a little corner called Stories of Hope. Have you found that yet? If not, check it out. Right Now.

Last week, I found out about Hope Lodge. What a fitting name to accommodate (for free!) cancer patients seeking treatment away from home.

Honestly, when I found out about that wonderful service (Hope Lodge), I was really deeply touched (still is). That is really a lot of help - in more ways than one - to cancer patients.

Speaking of Hope Lodge, I found this story of a prostate cancer survivor who found HOPE in Hope Lodge.

It took several weeks for a spot to open up; until then, Learned stayed in a hotel. Although he joined a local gym and even managed to find some tennis partners, he still felt isolated.

“I was in a strange city where I knew no one and I was by myself and my treatment was 15 minutes a day and that was the only thing I had to do,” he recalls. “It was very lonely.”

That all changed when Learned moved into Hope Lodge for the final 3 weeks of his treatment.

“Everybody there was so friendly,” he says. “It’s an incredible place.”

Read on. Thank God for such places, making one’s journey to survival, bearable.

Administration of the popular anti-inflammatory drug Celebrex (celecoxib, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) in combination with Lipitor (atorvastatin, a cholesterol lowering drug or statin) halts the transition of early prostate cancer to its more aggressive and potentially deadly stage.

“Anti-androgen therapy slows the prostate cancer but eventually the cancer becomes androgen-independent, the therapy becomes ineffective and the cancer cells become more aggressive,” said Xi Zheng, assistant research professor at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, who conducted the study.

“Treatments available for the later stage cancers are not very good,” said Allan Conney, director of Rutgers’ Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research, another researcher on the project. “Oncologists employ classical chemotherapy drugs which are very toxic and don’t work all that well.”

Such excitingly good news were the findings of researchers at the Rutgers’ Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy.

A combination of low doses of Lipitor and Celebrex had a more potent inhibiting effect on the formation of later stage tumors than a higher dose of either agent alone,” Zheng reported.

“The results from our study indicate that a combination of Lipitor and Celebrex may be an effective strategy for the prevention of prostate cancer progression from the first to the second stage.”

Clinical trial are being planned in the hope that same results will be generated.

Read more from Rutgers University.

Robert De Niro “won” against the cancer suit filed against him by Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company.

A Los Angeles judge on Tuesday granted the actor’s request to toss a lawsuit filed against him by an insurance company that claimed De Niro intentionally withheld that he had prostate cancer before the insurer signed on to cover one of his films.

Fireman’s Fund sued the Raging Bull star in October 2006, contending he wrongfully checked off a box indicating he had “never been diagnosed with or treated for” various conditions, including a diseased prostate, when he filled out his medical certificate.

The 64-year old old actor - Robert De Niro - underwent prostate cancer surgery in December 2003 at New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Since then, De Niro claims to be cancer-free.

Find more details from E!Online.

Amidst last week’s frenzy, I might have overlooked some important stuff involving cancer.

The following are still in my week-old (!!) notes:

Smokers Might Benefit From Earlier Colon Cancer Screening

New evidence suggests screening for colorectal cancer, which is now recommended to begin at age 50 for most people, should start five to 10 years earlier for individuals with a significant lifetime exposure to tobacco smoke, a University of Rochester Medical Center study said.

An examination of 3,450 cases found that current smokers were diagnosed with colon cancer approximately seven years earlier than people who never smoked. The study is also one of the first to link exposure to second-hand smoke, especially early in life, with a younger age for colon cancer onset.

Read more