Prostate cancer is a dreaded disease with many faces. It can sometimes present with advanced characteristics and progress rapidly — with a fatal outcome. More frequently, it can be much more inactive and allow many years of quality life. This edition of Our Voice illustrates well these paradoxical aspects and the varied needs associated with them. Again, it emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary care that focuses on the message of the Canadian Prostate Cancer Network: “Stay alive and healthy.”
To achieve the best results in prostate cancer care, patients, their partners and healthcare professionals all need to be actively involved. Denis Gaumond, a Nurse Manager at the McGill University Health Centre, outlines the Urology Oncology team’s approach to interdisciplinary holistic care. All the team members concerned meet weekly to ensure that each patient receives optimum care according to predetermined goals and quality indicators. If these objectives cannot be met, the program is altered accordingly.
Dr. Tom Pickles gives a comprehensive overview of the uses of PSA in the treatment of men with prostate cancer. Few people would dispute the impact of this biomarker — although not the perfect test, its implementation has resulted in an increase in diagnosis, improved treatment of localized disease, and, possibly, lower mortality due to this disease. As discussed by Dr. Pickles, PSA can help stratify risk to determine the best treatment, predict outcomes, indicate treatment success or failure, and choose the right timing for alternate therapy. Without doubt, these uses of PSA have allowed for tailored treatment leading to better results for individual patients.
Finally, Barbara Collier shares a touching reminiscence of her husband Martin’s 17-year battle with prostate cancer. Martin understood the circle of life, and lived to the fullest even under difficult circumstances. He encouraged others to enjoy life, cherish our earth and, if affected by prostate cancer, get passionately involved in the support group movement. It has been said that a man’s legacy is his family and his art. Martin’s legacy is large and lives on.
We hope you find these and other articles in this issue interesting and informative.
