Active Surveillance Prostate Cancer Video Chat, July 8th, 2026
AnCan is grateful to the following sponsors for making this recording possible: Novartis, Blue Earth Diagnostics, Telix, and Foundation Medicine.
Active Surveillance (AS) for low-risk prostate cancer involves unique challenges compared to other treatments. This online support group is designed for men and their caregivers who are currently on or considering AS. We hold four meetings monthly, recording only the second and fourth sessions. Our discussions cover a wide range of topics, including anxiety management, biopsy experiences, and the decision-making process around continuing or discontinuing AS. Newcomers are given priority to share their experiences, so we encourage you to join us.
Andy, Florida 8:24 PM
Advanced Uropathology of New York 700 Stewart Ave, Suite 101 Garden City, NY 11530 Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00AM – 6:00PM P: 516-760-2037 F: 516-200-3899 jepstein@imppllc.com
Finding out whether you’ve inherited a cancer-causing genetic mutation from a parent can add an important puzzle piece to your prostate cancer diagnosis. That information can affect whether you should be screened for other cancers, whether blood relatives should also consider getting tested, and even which prostate treatments you might want to pursue.
The genes most closely associated with harboring inherited mutations that cause prostate cancer include BRCA1, BRCA2, HOXB13, ATM, CHEK2, PALB2, TP53, PTEN, MSH2, and MSH6. As they pass from one generation of a family to the next, these harmful mutations (also called pathogenic variants) put recipients at increased risk of developing other types of cancers, such as breast, ovarian, endometrial, colorectal, pancreatic, and melanoma.
A germline (inherited) genetic test can reveal whether you carry any of these variants. The test will check your saliva, a cheek swab, or your blood for inherited mutations. If you have one, it exists in every cell of your body. Testing positive doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily develop another cancer, but it indicates that extra monitoring will be warranted. Aside from any cancer-causing variants you might have acquired from a parent, cancer cells can make their own mutations. A separate analysis of your biopsied tumor tissue—called a somatic test—can show if that’s happened in your case.
Learning that you have a germline variant is a red flag that other blood relatives who may have inherited the same mutation should consider getting tested, too. A positive result could also influence your treatment choices. If you carry a BRCA2 mutation, for instance, your treatment options may expand to include PARP inhibitors, drugs that tend to work best in prostate cancers with changes in that particular gene.
Having prostate cancer raises the chance that you carry an inherited variant. One analysis found germline BRCA1/2 variants in 4.47% of prostate cancer patients overall and 5.84% of those with metastatic disease, compared with roughly 0.25% to 1% in the general population.
Family history matters, too. If blood relatives have had prostate, breast, or other cancers linked to inherited variants, the case for testing is stronger. The same is true if your ancestry is associated with higher-than-normal rates of certain variants. For instance, the incidence of BRCA-related variants is significantly increased among Greenlandic Inuit, Ashkenazi Jews, and people with ancestry from Whalsay, Shetland, or Orkney in Scotland. Breast cancer studies also suggest elevated inherited BRCA1/2 rates among patients from the Bahamas, Nigeria, and Trinidad and Tobago.
If you test positive, AnCan is ready to help. We host a quarterly online support group for people with inherited pathogenic variants. It meets on the second Thursday of each quarter at 8 p.m. Eastern in the AnCan Schmier Room. AnCan also offers an email list that makes it easy for men with prostate cancer and inherited mutations to share information.
A New Option for Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer — and Why It Matters
By Stuart Jordan
A clinical trial exploring a new treatment option for intermediate-risk prostate cancer has produced a striking result. Across 42 patients enrolled in the RTIRE trial at Weill Cornell Medicine, none of the 12-month biopsies showed evidence of recurrent cancer. That outcome is now driving a major Phase III randomized trial — called IRRADIANT — launching at some of the top cancer centers in the country, including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, Moffitt Cancer Center, Fox Chase Cancer Center, UT Southwestern, and Mayo Clinic (MN & AZ).
I was fortunate to be one of those 42 patients. And I want to tell you why I chose this trial, what the experience was like, and what it may mean for men in our community who have been diagnosed with intermediate-risk prostate cancer — Grade Group 2 or 3, or in Gleason terms, 3+4 or 4+3 — and are considering their treatment options.
The core problem RTIRE was designed to solve is one that AnCan knows well. Focal treatments are appealing — less invasive, fewer side effects, and faster recovery. But recurrence remains a significant concern, and RTIRE was designed specifically to address that challenge. It combines IRE, a precise nonthermal ablation of the dominant lesion, with reduced-dose MR-guided radiation to cover the entire prostate. Think of the IRE as a boost — targeting the most aggressive area with intensity — while the radiation handles the rest of the gland with less total dose than standard SBRT. The goal is to achieve cancer control comparable to whole-gland treatment while reducing side effects.
When I brought this to AnCan two years ago, the group was skeptical. The questions were fair: why take the risk of focal when standard SBRT has a strong track record? And if you were going focal, why add the complexity of a clinical trial? I had my reasons — the credentials of Drs. McClure and Nagar, the MRLinac technology at MSK, and frankly, the logic of addressing the risk of recurrence directly rather than accepting it as a given. The group respected my reasoning without necessarily agreeing with it.
Today, they are the ones asking me to share this story.
My own outcome has been encouraging: a clean 12-month biopsy, consistently low PSA readings, a clean MRI and PSMA scan, manageable urinary side effects controlled with medication, no bowel issues, and some sexual-function changes, which can occur with virtually any prostate cancer treatment. I am not cured. I remain under routine surveillance and am currently considered low risk, and I have no regrets about the path I chose.
IRRADIANT is now open and enrolling. The trial is randomized, so participants have a 50/50 chance of receiving either the IRE boost plus reduced-dose SBRT or standard SBRT radiation treatment alone. If you have been diagnosed with intermediate-risk prostate cancer and are weighing your treatment options, I am happy to discuss further. Reach out during our session or email me at stuart@ancan.org.
RTIRE – trial details and results‑related info
1. ClinicalTrials.gov – official RTIRE registry (Phase II)
Includes protocol, dose (32.5 Gy/5 or 22 Gy/2), eligibility, endpoints, and status. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05345444
2. BMC Urology protocol paper (PubMed)
Full write‑up of the RTIRE Phase II design, rationale, and planned outcomes; registered as NCT05345444. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39054460/
Active Surveillance Prostate Cancer Video Chat, June 24th, 2026
AnCan is grateful to the following sponsors for making this recording possible: Novartis, Blue Earth Diagnostics, Telix, and Foundation Medicine.
Active Surveillance (AS) for low-risk prostate cancer involves unique challenges compared to other treatments. This online support group is designed for men and their caregivers who are currently on or considering AS. We hold four meetings monthly, recording only the second and fourth sessions. Our discussions cover a wide range of topics, including anxiety management, biopsy experiences, and the decision-making process around continuing or discontinuing AS. Newcomers are given priority to share their experiences, so we encourage you to join us.
Active Surveillance Prostate Cancer Video Chat, June 10th, 2026
AnCan is grateful to the following sponsors for making this recording possible: Novartis, Blue Earth Diagnostics, Telix, and Foundation Medicine.
Active Surveillance (AS) for low-risk prostate cancer involves unique challenges compared to other treatments. This online support group is designed for men and their caregivers who are currently on or considering AS. We hold four meetings monthly, recording only the second and fourth sessions. Our discussions cover a wide range of topics, including anxiety management, biopsy experiences, and the decision-making process around continuing or discontinuing AS. Newcomers are given priority to share their experiences, so we encourage you to join us.
You can find out more about our 12 monthly prostate cancer meetings at https://ancan.org/prostate-cancer/. Sign up to receive a weekly Reminder/Newsletter for this Group or others at https://ancan.org/contact-us/.
Andy Douglas, Florida 8:11 PM
Jonathan Epstein, MD
Andy Douglas, Florida 8:11 PM
Advanced Uropathology of New York 700 Stewart Ave, Suite 101 Garden City, NY 11530 Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00AM – 6:00PM P: 516-760-2037 F: 516-200-3899 jepstein@imppllc.com
Ray E 8:12 PM
Ming Zhou Md
Ray E 8:12 PM
https://profiles.mountsinai.org/ming-zhou
Andy Douglas, Florida 8:23 PM
Shaw Zhou, MD St Petersburg 38th Avenue 5747 38th Ave N, St. Petersburg, Florida 33710 Phone (727) 381-8667
Ed Cirimele, Ca 8:39 PM
Ed Cirimele: jocimo@gmail.com
Eric 8:41 PM
Gotta head back to it. Thanks!
Andy Douglas, Florida 8:43 PM
https://www.healthcare6.com/physician/san-rafael-ca/joseph-lee-2179445.html
AnCan – Rick 8:45 PM
Here’s the KP link Ed…. https://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/providers/jhlee
Andy Douglas, Florida 8:49 PM
PSA density is a measure that relates the level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood to the size of the prostate gland, calculated by dividing the PSA value by the prostate volume. A higher PSA density can indicate a greater risk of prostate cancer, especially if it is above 0.15 ng/mL/cc.
