In Canada, health officials are wanting more men in the high-risk group (most likely, middle aged) to get screened for prostate cancer. Why? Well, only two in every five men in that country from within that group apparently have tested for prostate cancer in the past year. That's just too low.

An astounding 39 percent (only) of men over the age of 45 have taken blood tests to measure the prostate specific antigen levels, with only 33 percent having undergone a digital rectal exam.

In other words, there could be a lot more undiagnosed prostate problems under development with such a low amount of high-risk men being tested.

A compound found in red wine may reduce prostate cancer risk according to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The study showed that mice who were fed a compound called resveratrol, which is found in red wine, had an 87 percent reduction in their risk of developing aggressive prostate tumors. The mice who gained the highest cancer-protection effect consumed resveratrol in a powdered formula mixed with their food for seven months.

Resveratrol can also be found in grapes, raspberries, peanuts and blueberries, in addition to red wine. An earlier study found that mice fed resveratrol had a reduction in their risk of breast cancer.

Lead author Coral Lamartiniere says that, "A cancer prevention researcher lives for these days when they can make that kind of finding. I drink a glass a day every evening because I'm concerned about prostate cancer. It runs in my family."

To ingest the same amount of resveratrol that the mice did, solely from red wine, an average person would have to drink a bottle a day.

According to a new NCI study led by Dr. Richard B. Hayes, men may be able to cut their risk of aggressive prostate cancer in half by adding broccoli and cauliflower to their diets. Hayes and his team found that men who ate more than a serving of either vegetable each week had half the risk of advanced prostate cancer compared with men who ate these vegetables less than once a month.

The overall risk of prostate cancer was unchanged by vegetable intake however.

There was also a reduced risk of aggressive prostate cancer among men who ate raw or cooked spinach at least twice a week, compared to those men who ate it less than once a month.

Many prostate cancer survivors develop incontinence after undergoing surgery due to damage to the urinary sphincter. This damage is often unavoidable.

A new type of sling, called the AdVance sling, involves a thin strip of mesh, between incisions on the inner thigh, which is then passed beneath the bottom of the urethra to increase support where tissues have been weakened. This can help prevent leakage of urine when abdominal pressure increases.

Dr. Allen Morey of UT Southwestern says that this low-risk procedure can "offer men a chance to return to their daily activities with minimal to no pain," instead of coping by restricting activities or fluid intake.

A recent study published in The Prostate by Dr. Lagunova and colleagues suggests that the season of prostate cancer diagnosis may be linked with survival. The study showed that men diagnosed with prostate cancer in the summer and autumn have better survival.

Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to higher prostate cancer mortality in previous studies. The authors put forth a theory that levels of calcidiol, an intermediate metabolite of Vitamin D, are higher during the summer and autumn and therefore may impact prostate cancer incidence and outcome. The researchers divided Norway into three areas based on sun exposure and documented Vitamin D intake.

The best prognosis for prostate cancer patients were for those diagnosed in the summer and autumn, defined from June to November.

Frequent screening for prostate cancer found more tumors overall, but failed to cut the number of aggressive tumors detected according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. This study further fuels the controversy over the value of screening tests for this cancer and how frequently such tests should be performed.

The researchers write that yearly PSA testing may lead to prostate cancer diagnoses that may be "clinically insignificant." The American Cancer Society currently recommends doctors offer the PSA test or digital rectal exam, annually, to men starting at age 50. The goal is to catch the tumors early on when they are easiest to treat.

However, according to the lead author of this study, Monique Roobol, such frequent screening may also detect minor tumors that may pose no threat but end up receiving aggressive treatment.

Screening in Europe is generally less frequent than here in the U.S., roughly every four years at the institutions that took part in this study.

According to research carried out by Dr. Michael Dattoli, of the Dattoli Cancer Center, Sarasota, Florida, high rates of tumor control are possible over the long term in high-risk prostate cancer patients with combination treatment consisting of external beam radiation followed by brachytherapy. This research was reported in the journal Cancer.

According to Dr. Dattoli, despite perceptions that brachytherapy is inappropriate for patients at high risk of cancer progression, this study strengthens the rationale behind using brachytherapy for such patients.

In addition, most patients were cured without incurring incontinence or impotence over the long-term.

A new study finds that pectin, a type of fiber in fruits and vegetables which is used to make jams, kills prostate cancer cells. The study found that exposing prostate cancer cells to pectin in the lab reduced the number of cells by up to 40 percent, according to the researchers at the University of Georgia led by Debra Mohnen and Vijay Kumar at the VA Medical Center in Augusta.

They found that the cells self-destructed via apoptosis, which is programmed cell death. Pectin even killed the prostate cancer cells that were not sensitive to hormone therapy. When the same experiment was run with non-cancerous cells, cell death did not occur.

Pectin has also been shown to lower cholesterol and glucose levels in humans. Studies using rats and cell cultures have found that pectin can reduce metastasis and prevent lung and colon cancer.

Obese men have an increased risk of prostate cancer recurrence and death after radiation therapy, according to a study led by Dr. David Palma at the British Columbia Cancer Agency. Obesity had already been known to predict cancer progression in men who underwent complete removal of the prostate gland.

The researchers examined whether obesity is related to outcome for patients who underwent external beam radiation therapy. They examined three groups, normal weight, overweight and obese. There were no differences in the patients' Gleason scores, PSA scores or cancer stage. Testosterone blood levels were lower in the obese men.

The average time to relapse was 93 months for the normal-weight men, 88 months for the overweight men and 84 months for the obese men. Explanations given by the researchers include dietary factors and changes in hormonal levels.

Compounds in cranberries may improve the effectiveness of platinum-based chemotherapy drugs that are used to fight ovarian cancer, according to a study led by Ajay P. Singh, Ph.D., and Nicholi Vorsa, Ph.D from Rutgers University.

The scientists showed that human ovarian cancer cells in cell culture studies were up to 6 times more sensitized to the drugs after the exposure to the cranberry compounds compared to cells that were not exposed. They treated the cells with a purified extract of commercially available cranberry drink (containing 27 percent pure juice), and then exposed the cells to the platinum drug paraplatin. Human studies are still needed, note the researchers.

The researchers believe that the active compounds are antioxidants called 'A-type' proanthocyanidins that are unique to cranberries. Based on other studies by other groups, the compounds appear to bind to and block certain tumor promoter proteins, making the cells more vulnerable to the platinum drugs.

Next steps includes isolating the active compounds and doing further studies, including studies in humans.

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have identified the first immune molecule that appears to play a role in prostate cancer, B7-H3. This research was led by Timothy Roth, M.D. According to the researchers, B7-H3 plays a role in predicting prostate cancer recurrence and progression after surgery.

The researchers believe that B7-H3 kills or paralyzes immune cells that are trying to attack the prostate cancer cells. Nearly all normal, premalignant and cancerous prostate cells have B7-H3 on their surface.

The researchers found that patients with the highest levels of B7-H3 within their tumors were four times more likely to experience cancer progression as those with lower levels. The researchers say that evaluating the level of B7-H3 may help determine which patients can benefit from the 'watchful waiting' approach and which should take early aggressive measures.

A new study in Cancer analyzed prognostic factors and survival from prostate cancer among whites and 6 Asian subgroups: Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, South Asian and Vietnamese.

Japanese men had significantly better survival than whites when analyzed separately. Chinese, Filipino, Korean and Vietnamese men had equal survival and South Asian men had significantly lower survival rates. All subgroups except South Asian and Vietnamese had significantly better survival than whites and these two groups had equal survival.

Traditional prognostic factors do not explain these differences in survival as every Asian subgroup had a risk factor profile that would have predicted a survival disadvantage when compared to whites.

Prostate cancer is a leading killer of males in the U.S., so when something original and new develops that can lead to early detection and treatment, I for one, pay attention.

This week, a protein-based "marker" known as B7-H3 was more plentiful in the prostate gland when cancer was developing (or had developed). If levels of this protein could be tested for in terms of actual amount, it could help doctors determine the stage of prostate cancer in patients.
, is a protein that's involved in the body's immune system.

This could potentially lead to better-suited forms of treatment (from light to aggressive) if physicians and oncologists could pinpoint specific stages of cancerous development. Targeting exact B7-H3 protein cells without harming nearby healthy tissue will be the next challenge. Lets hope it comes soon.

George Mitchell, the man leading an independent investigation of steroid use among Major League Baseball players -- he's also a former U.S. Senate Majority Leader -- has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

"The cancer is small, low grade and localized, and can be effectively treated and cured,'' says Mitchell's physician, The prognosis is very good for Mitchell, a Democrat from Maine.

Mitchell, 73, said in a statement that he expects his treatment will not interfere with his investigation that began in March 2006 when he was appointed by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to interview hundreds of people and review thousands of documents.

A large study from the New England Research Institutes found that men using statins had lower blood levels of androgens such as testoterone, however, it was more likely due to poor health than the use of the statins. This finding refutes previous findings that statins might cut prostate cancer risk by reducing the production of such male hormones that fuel cancer growth.

According to Susan A. Hall, Ph.D., this finding doesn't mean that statins aren't lowering prostate cancer risk through other pathways, but they are not lowering the risk through the reduction of male hormones.

A large, recent study found that men using statins were at lower risk of developing metastatic prostate cancer, especially if the statins were used long-term. Other studies have had mixed results according to Hall. Statins lower cholesterol and since cholesterol is required to produce male hormones, some researchers have theorized that statins may reduce production of these hormones, and hence prostate cancer.