Tag: Men’s Health

Movember 2017 is Here!

For nearly 10 years, we have been proud to participate in a month-long campaign to raise awareness and funds for men’s health each November, also known as Movember.

The campaign dates back to 2003 when two friends in Australia tried to bring back the moustache trend by growing out moustaches (or “mo’s” as they are commonly called in Australia) during the month of November. The following year, after realizing that this facial hair served as a conversation-starter, they decided to channel that energy to raise money for prostate cancer research.

Awareness (and mustaches) have grown over the years, and in 2007, Movember officially launched a global campaign to change the face of men’s health – literally and figuratively through increased awareness and funds. Another way people can get involved is by “moving” and setting a walking, running, biking or swimming goal and working to achieve it every day throughout Movember. Today, over 5 million people from more than 20 countries have collectively raised over $700 million dollars. The Movember Foundation uses this money to fund research around the world to reduce the number of men dying from prostate and testicular cancer, as well as mental health issues. Movember is committed to funding research that will reduce the number of deaths from prostate and testicular cancer by 50% by 2030.

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From L to R: Dr. Scott Tagawa, last year’s Movember Captain, Dr. Daniel Margolis, this year’s Movember captain

We’ve been proud Movember partners for nearly 10 years now and have benefitted from many Movember research grants to further our cancer research, most recently being named one of six teams to receive a 2017 Challenge Award from the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) and the Movember Foundation to investigate new, cutting-edge treatments for metastatic prostate cancer.

This 2017 Movember-PCF Challenge Grant has funded our latest research developing new treatments for treatment-resistant advanced prostate cancer. More details on the grant and research it supports can be found here.
In past years, Movember-funded grants have supported our research in the following areas:

  • Blood tests that assess the tumor’s circulating DNA to predict reasons for treatment resistance.
  • Circulating tumor cell (CTC) tests to predict which patients are more or less likely to respond to hormonal therapy or chemotherapy.
  • Assessing the genome of initial tumors in the prostate compared to advanced, treatment resistant tumors.
  • Evaluating inflammation in adipose (fat) tissue around the prostate, which is associated with tumor growth.

Throughout the month of November, staff and physicians at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian will be growing mustaches, exercising and raising funds for the Movember Foundation in support of our shared mission to cure cancer.

Get Involved!

  • Join our team by visiting https://moteam.co/wild-weill-cornell-mos
  • Grow a moustache and commit to going razor-free. It’s a great conversation starter to encourage friends and family members to donate to Movember.
  • Spin for a cure! Kill two birds with one stone. Get your workout in and support the Wild Weill Cornell Mos. Attend our cycling events on November 16th and 18th, with proceeds benefiting our team’s Movember fundraising goal.
  • Shave the date and celebrate the end of Movember by attending a happy hour. Stay tuned for final details including date and location.

Last year, we raised $13,000. We want to top that this year by raising $20K or more. Help us get there and remember that every dollar counts in the quest to cure cancer!

 

 

First-Ever Clinical Trial Testing PSMA-Targeted Antibody and Radioactive Alpha Particles for Treatment of Advanced Prostate Cancer

Radiation is one of the most common treatments for prostate cancer. Using radiation, physicians are able to cure some men with cancer confined to the prostate, as well as improve symptoms for men with metastatic disease. There are many different types of radiation treatments.

One type of treatment includes injecting radioactive isotopes into the blood in order to directly reach the prostate cancer cells regardless of where they are located in the body, including the cells that have spread to the bone and other organs. For example, Radium-223 (Xofigo) is FDA-approved to treat prostate cancer that has metastasized to the bone and has been shown to improve both the quality and duration of the lives of men with advanced prostate cancer.

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Red marker = PSMA, Green = radiation, demonstrating that the drug targets the cancer cell directly.

Radioimmunotherapy or radioligand therapy involves the practice of attaching a radioactive isotope to a cancer-targeting antibody or small molecule that binds only to a specific cancer-related molecule on a tumor cell. This is similar to a “lock and key” scenario, where the antibody or molecule resembles the key that will only recognize a very specific lock (the cancer-related molecule).

Essentially all prostate cancers have a specific “lock” called prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA). This “lock” is a protein that sits on the surface of most prostate cancer cells but is absent from most other normal places in the body.

Physicians and scientists have engineered very specific “keys” in the form of monoclonal antibodies and molecules that will bind only to PSMA. When we attach radioactive particles to these keys, we are able to deliver what we call “molecularly targeted” radiotherapy.

For example, J591 is a monoclonal antibody (an engineered protein) that recognizes PSMA. Actinium-225 (225Ac) is a small radioactive particle that emits alpha-particles, a powerful form of radiation requiring fewer particles to cause damage to the cancer cells. When these are attached to one another, we call the compound 225Ac-J591 (a radioactive particle linked with a monoclonal antibody). It is designed so that J591 will recognize the PSMA on the prostate cancer cells and bring the radioactive particle 225Ac with it into prostate cancer cells wherever it goes in the body.

Our physicians and scientists are building on prior laboratory-based research presented at the 2017 Meeting for the Annual Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and are now studying the role this experimental therapy may have for men with advanced prostate cancer that has spread throughout the body. Thanks to generous support from the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the NIH SPORE award, Dr. Scott Tagawa, medical oncologist and Director of the Weill Cornell Medicine Genitourinary (GU) Oncology Program, and his team are conducting the first-ever clinical trial testing the PSMA-targeted antibody and radioactive alpha particles (225Ac-J591) for treatment of advanced prostate cancer. This promising new and unique approach has the potential to lead to another treatment option for those patients who are not experiencing the best clinical outcomes possible from standard of care therapies. Some men in Germany have received 225Ac linked to PSMA-617 with a handful of cases published with impressive responses. However, no formal studies have been performed and there are reports of bothersome dry mouth (xerostomia) and the potential for delayed kidney damage (seen in mice).

“We look forward to advancing science and also making this treatment available to men with advanced prostate cancer in the near future, says Dr. Scott Tagawa. “Our goal is to translate the existing knowledge base into true clinical gains for prostate cancer patients and it’s great that in October, 2017, we are able to treat our first patient.”

 

 

 

Prostate Cancer Education Seminar Presented as Part of WCM/NYP Health and Wellness Fall Series

Each fall, Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) and NewYork-Presbyterian (NYP) host a health and wellness seminar series – one seminar every week for a month – where physicians educate the local community about different types of health issues.

Tagawa and Nanus Prostate TalkLast week, Dr. David Nanus, professor of medicine and urology at Weill Cornell Medicine and Dr. Scott Tagawa, medical oncologist and Director of the Weill Cornell Medicine Genitourinary (GU) Oncology Program, presented to and educated people in the local community about prostate cancer. Their presentation was titled, “Your Guide to Prostate Health and What to Know About the Leading Cancer in Men.” Following the presentation, all attendees were invited to ask the physicians questions.

Nanus Prostate Talk
Some of the key topics from Dr. Nanus and Dr. Tagawa’s presentations included the common risk factors for prostate cancer, the importance of screening, the latest treatments and research, as well as utilizing the precision medicine approach.

 

Key highlights from their presentations are outlined below.

 Prostate Cancer Risk Factors

Prostate cancer risk factors include age, ethnicity and inherited genetic conditions. For example, those diagnosed with prostate cancer are predominantly older men. Additionally, new data points towards a surprisingly high percentage with inherited cancer genes. Those with genetic conditions such as BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 or those with prostate cancer in their family history are also more likely to be diagnosed with the disease.

Early Detection and Screening

Dr. Nanus and Dr. Tagawa highlighted the importance of screening and early detection by referencing the recently-updated National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) prostate cancer screening guidelines. Despite ongoing debate over the value of prostate cancer screening, this past September, NCCN’s guidelines suggest that screening canTagawa Prostate Talk indeed reduce a man’s risk of dying from the disease and that prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing and digital rectal examination (DRE) should be done. Newer tests are also available to assist in counseling about biopsies and targeted biopsies are now offered at selected centers. Dr. Scott Tagawa addressed the importance of the “shared decision-making” model when it comes to prostate cancer screening. For example, men considering screening are encouraged to discuss with their healthcare team and family members the pros and cons of getting screened and what the best course of action would be if the results lead to a diagnosis.

Treatments

The presentation also addressed the different treatment approaches. As a first step, the most important factor in choosing the best way to treat prostate cancer is knowing what stage the cancer is in. Prostate cancer has been traditionally staged and “risk-stratified” based on the extent of the cancer (using T, N, and M categories) and the PSA level and Gleason score at the time of diagnosis.

We now have additional molecular tests to add prognostic value. In certain circumstances, these tests assist in the decision for “radical treatment” which has been traditionally performed with surgery and/or radiation versus active surveillance (which entails regular monitoring visits in addition to repeat imaging/biopsy). It is important to note that most men diagnosed with prostate cancer, including some that have recurrence after surgery or radiation, will never die of the disease.

Novel molecular imaging techniques have assisted in telling physicians and researchers about the location of previously unseen cancer and also providing information about the biology of certain tumors. A number of therapeutic advances have occurred over the last several years resulting in men with incurable cancer living longer with a better quality of life.

Precision Medicine

Dr. Tagawa emphasized the great strides and therapeutic advances over the years in prostate cancer treatments, but that more work still needs to be done. There are now many options for therapies that make men live longer while also making them feel better. One of the reasons for this advancement is the use of precision medicine, which means that physicians are treating each individual based on their own genetic makeup without using a “one size fits all” type of approach. A key factor in making this method successful is through clinical trials. We often interrogate a patient’s tumor from surgery or an image-guided needle biopsy. In addition, liquid biopsies are now increasingly valuable.

View this FOX 5 clip featuring Dr. David Nanus and Dr. Scott Tagawa with their patient, Alex Sarmiento, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer and tested with a liquid biopsy.

Research

Data shows that most adults with cancer do not participate in clinical trials. It is through clinical trials that new treatments and combinations of treatments can be identified. Clinical trials pave the way toward further scientific advances that could potentially help to find a cure for prostate cancer, and other cancers as well. These trials also have the ability to offer therapies to patients that they otherwise would not have access to. The most common reason that patients do not enroll in clinical trials is because they were not told that this was an option. We suggest asking your physician about access to clinical trials at each stage of the disease and/or seeking out centers that have trials available.

Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian offers many prostate cancer-specific trials that you can search for here.

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