Say hello to Dr. Michael Benjamin, an oncologist from the blogging community from InteractMD.com who practices in southern California. Today we have his take on all the warnings coming out relative to treatments for prostate cancer. He’s been a long time reader and follower of the Medical Quack and has now started video blogging in high definition. By his own admission, he said he maybe chatted a little too long here but this is the first of his continuing series and I think it’s pretty good. In the video he also offers some of his knowledge and opinions that touch on a few other clinical areas that relate to oncology as well. 
If you find the information interesting and want to tune in for additional video casts, you visit the website to see what’s new. The high definition video looks good. BD
We have already heard about the osteoporosis that comes along with hormonal treatment for prostate cancer, but now here comes another advisory on potential heart problems as well.
http://www.webmd.com/prostate-cancer/news/20100201/heart-risk-from-prost...
I can remember one guy sitting across from me absolutely refusing to start lupron treatment for prostate cancer despite a big tumor in the lumbar spine, for fear of osteoporosis, drug company kickbacks (I just had to put that in there), and now, evidently, heart disease.
The WebMD coverage is light on details, but this is not really a new subject. A recent paper in the so-called JNCI puts the excess risk of cardiovascular disease with hormone treatment of prostate cancer at 28% per year, though another recent study did not confirm this result.
The difference now is that the big organizations have released a statement that tries to have it both ways. AHA (heart), AUA (urology), ASTRO (radiation onc), and ACS (American Cancer Society) warn that prostate cancer treatments may impact cardiac health, and that doctors and patients should discuss the risks and benefits of treatment. To me, this is pretty much a cop out. "We think there might be a problem with hormone therapy for prostate cancer, and even though we are pulling out the scare tactics, we are not going to come out and say how bad these treatments are, only that doctors and patients should figure out if the bad effects of these treatments justify their meager benefits.
We're outta here. Not even a press release today from American Cancer Society.
http://interactmd.com/content/big-organizations-warn-heart-risks-hormonal-prostate-cancer-treatment
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