AnCan Goes Live! … at AUA22 in N’awlins

by | May 16, 2022 | Active Surveillance PCa, mCRPC, nmCRPC, Press, Prostate Cancer, Recent News

AnCan Goes Live! … at AUA22 in N’awlins

Herb in AnCan’s Glory

Live performances: Many of us have missed them for two long COVID years. New Orleans has especially missed them. And while AnCan may have never missed them, given our virtual model, Herb Geller still rocked a standing-room-only, live crowd at the American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Conference last Friday the 13th (a good omen, in this case).

Herb delivered AnCan’s research, “Evaluating the Contribution of Video Peer-Led Support to Prostate Cancer Patients: The AnCan Experience” as part of the AUAs “Patient Perspectives” program.

John Ivory, Herb Geller & Jim Schraidt

A number of you with prostate cancer will remember helping us by taking one or two online surveys last year, which made this research possible. Parts of this research had already been accepted at two other conferences, the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). While we were pleased to be recognized by those forums, COVID turned those conferences virtual, and there’s nothing like a live performance. Herb presented our greatest hits combining both the overall survey and our Active Surveilance specific questionnaire.

Survey participants said this about AnCan  groups:

  • 83% agreed the information is useful
  • 67% discussed the information with their care teams
  • 61% changed or informed their treatment path or strategy
  • 71% found help navigating treatment path or strategy
  • 80% became better advocates for themselves

Strikingly, AnCan participants have improved their lifestyle habits:

  • 58% improved exercise habits
  • 38% improved diets
  • 50% reported reduced stress

AnCan helped participants make connections with each other:

  • 85% found the groups to be welcoming
  • 43% connected with others
  • 30% developed friendships with other participants

Among those who attend early diagnosis, low-risk Active Surveillance meetings:

  • 68% said that attendance helped them be their own best advocate
  • 23% said that attendance informed them of new insights and treatments

AnCan concluded that:

  • The AnCan Support Group model increases patient knowledge, positively impacts treatment planning, and promotes lifestyle improvements while providing support to reduce stress, boosts confidence in navigating the disease, and improves quality of life.
  • AnCan empowers patients to self-advocate and improve their disease experience. This is integral to optimize physician/patient interactions and improve outcomes.
  • We advocate that virtual peer group attendance, based on our model, be included in (National Comprehensive Cancer Network) NCCN treatment recommendations for prostate cancer patients, especially with advanced disease.

If you took part in one of the two surveys, thanks again. And thanks especially to Rick Davis, Herbert M. Geller, James Schraidt, Howard Wolinsky, (and yours truly) for designing the surveys, crunching the data, and developing and presenting the insights from the data.

John Ivory, May 15 2022