“Playing the Long Game” – Does your Recurrent/Advanced Prostate Cancer Need Treating? NCI Seminar
“Playing the Long Game” – Does your Recurrent/Advanced Prostate Cancer Need Treating?
National Cancer Institute Seminar with Dr. Ravi Madan and Dr. Melissa Abel, Jan 30, 2026
READ THROUGH – you won’t regret it!! (rd)
A recent article in the Journal of Clinical Oncology with a very dry title caught our eye – National Cancer Institute’s Working Group on Biochemically Recurrent Prostate Cancer: Clinical Trial Design Considerations
AnCan has long been perplexed by the prostate cancer category “non-metastatic Castrate Resistant” or even “non-metastatic Hormone Sensitive”. If PSA is rising after primary treatment but prior to hormone treatment, something’s going on, however, ‘micro-metastatic’. It’s like being just a little bit pregnant!!
This paper considers a new category, PSMA Positive Biochemically Recurrent – PSMA+ BCR. We circulated the paper to our Brains Trust and reached out to Dr. Ravi Madan at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) with a couple of questions. Dr Madan offered to meet with us along with his colleague, Dr. Melissa Abel. What resulted was this REMARKABLE video that could present many of our recurrent and advanced AnCan (& non-AnCan) participants with one of the most mind-blowing videos many have seen in a long time,
DO YOU REALLY NEED TREATMENT??
As the venerable and highly respected Dr. Paul Schellhammer said in the meeting, “it’s like listening 15 years ago to the folks who began to promote active surveillance ( in first line treatment)” Dr. Madan and Dr. Abel have collected solid data from around 150 patients that suggests men with slow PSA doubling times can “play the long game” as Dr. Ravi calls it, and defer active treatment when their disease recurs.
PLEASE watch this astonishing presentation, listen to some excellent observations and questions, and consider how it relates to your own situation. And spread the word to others. Dr. Madan’s and Dr. Abel’s NCI clinical trial can be found at https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05588128. Don’t immediately assume you’re not eligible before speaking with them… but you’ll have to watch the video to get their contact information.
See this related report on a UCLA study reported in the JNCCN Feb 2025
Living with Visual Snow – a Therapist’s Perspective with Dr. Paula Hechinger – January 20th, 2025
Living with Visual Snow – a Therapist’s Perspective with Dr. Paula Hechinger
“My approach to Visual Snow Syndrome was born from my own journey from being a
depressed and isolated mother of two to becoming a resilient psychoanalyst. Today, I not
only help individuals navigate VSS but also support those facing a wide range of mental
health challenges, including depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, borderline personality
disorder, trauma, and more. What once felt like a limitation became the foundation of my
purpose to guide others toward healing with empathy, depth, and lived understanding.” -Dr. Paula Hechinger
Join us for a special presentation with Dr. Paula Hechinger, a psychoanalyst who is living with Visual Snow Syndrome. She shares her personal journey, insights, and practical tips for managing VSS. Click here to view her personal testimony and presentation.
For a list of resources on Visual Snow Syndrome (VSS), click here.
Special Presentation: What if You Could Predict the Risk of Radiation Effects – Prostox and Beyond
Special Presentation: What if You Could Predict the Risk of Radiation Effects – Prostox and Beyond
Featuring Dr. Joanne Weidhaas, developer of the Prostox test. Dr. Weidhaas is a radiation oncologist/ professor at UCLA. Co-discoverer of the biomarker KRAS-variant, she co-founded MiraDx, maker of Prostox, and MiraKind to empower individuals with meaningful health information. Dr. Weidhass’ professional and academic resume includes MSKCC, Yale and Stanford, largely in breast cancer. She also finds time to care for 3 kids and save dogs!
Learn more about Prostox here: https://miradx.com/prostox/
Webinar: Interpreting Prostate Needle Biopsies in Today’s World ; Dr. J. Epstein – Recording
Interpreting Prostate Needle Biopsies in Today’s World – Recording
If you’re new to AnCan – welcome!
Please sign up to receive a Reminder/newsletter for one or more of our 5 different prostate cancer groups each month at https://ancan.org/contact-us/ .
- Early Active Surveillance
- Low/ Intermediate (treatments)
- High Risk/Recurrent/Advanced
- Locally advanced and advanced Under-60s
- Gay and Bisexual men
Check out our Veterans and mental health too, including art and creative writing classes. All AnCan sessions are free and all except the Art Class are drop-in – no pre-registration.
Take a look at the recording of our latest webinar presentation featuring guest speaker Dr. Jonathan Epstein, MD, a leader in Advanced Uropathology. Thanks to guest panelists Dr. John Antonucci, MD, Dr. Randall Jones, PhD, and Howard Wolinsky.
Reliable biopsies are critical to selecting the right treatment at all stages of prostate cancer – we’re talking needle tissue, not blood, btw. Get it wrong and you may get too much or too little treatment.
Reading pathology is part art and part science! AnCan Advisory Board Member, Dr. Jonathan Epstein is globally acknowledged to have the best eye in the genitourinary pathology world. AnCan frequently refers men to him for a 2nd opinion. His presentation will include:
- Getting the most out of a 2nd Opinion
- The relevance of cribriform, intraductal, ductal, & small cells
- Biopsy report terms, like perineural invasion
- Role of AI – artificial intelligence
View the slides for this recording here
AnCan thanks the following sponsors for making this recording possible: Bayer, Novartis, Johnson and Johnson, Myriad Genetics, Telix, Blue Earth Diagnostics, and Foundation Medicine. Views expressed in this Recording are solely the opinion of AnCan Foundation, our Moderators, and Participants.
AnCan does not accept sponsored promotions. Any drugs, protocols, or devices discussed are based solely on anecdotal peer experience or clinical evidence. AnCan cannot and does not provide medical advice. We encourage you to discuss anything you hear in our sessions with your own medical team.
AnCan reminds all Participants that Adverse Events experienced from prescribed drugs or protocols should be reported to the pharmaceutical manufacturer or the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). To do so, call 1-800-332-1066 or download the interactive FDA Form 3500 https://www.fda.gov/media/76299/download
To SIGN UP for any of our Virtual Support groups, visit our Contact Us page
Webinar: MRI 2nd Opinions…ProstatID solves the challenge
In our prostate cancer world, getting 2nd opinions is critical. It’s easy to find a medical second opinion, and you can have your pathology reread by the best. But MRIs – that’s been challenging.
Now there’s an affordable AI-validated option that’s proven very reliable* – ProstatID, owned by DeepView Imaging https://deepviewimaging.com Visit their webiste for more information
Founder and Developer, Randall Jones, PhD, explains the technology and its uses. Hosted by AnCan Advisory Board Member and prostate cancer peer, Cdr. Mike Crosby
*Sensitivity and Specificity in the mid-90% range
Click here to view the slides.
AnCan participants receive a $20 discount on their first submission – please be sure to mention us.
AnCan thanks the following sponsors for making this recording possible: Bayer, Novartis, Johnson and Johnson, Myriad Genetics, Telix, Blue Earth Diagnostics, and Foundation Medicine. Views expressed in this Recording are solely the opinion of AnCan Foundation, our Moderators, and Participants.
AnCan does not accept sponsored promotions. Any drugs, protocols, or devices discussed are based solely on anecdotal peer experience or clinical evidence. AnCan cannot and does not provide medical advice. We encourage you to discuss anything you hear in our sessions with your own medical team.
AnCan reminds all Participants that Adverse Events experienced from prescribed drugs or protocols should be reported to the pharmaceutical manufacturer or the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). To do so, call 1-800-332-1066 or download the interactive FDA Form 3500 https://www.fda.gov/media/76299/download
To SIGN UP for any of our Virtual Support groups, visit our Contact Us page.