Prostate Cancer

Charles Brock has fought in the Korean War and survived auto accidents, but nothing scared him quite as much as learning he had cancer. "When you hear the big C word, that's absolutely devastating. . . . You have something growing inside you and you have no control over it," said Brock, 59. "Or you perceive you have no control over it. " In 1992, Brock was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He felt as though he couldn't talk to anyone who would understand what he was going through.

The American Cancer Society and a national alliance of cancer centers have issued prostate-cancer treatment guidelines that translate technical medical information into concise, understandable advice for patients. The 50-page report is the second in a series of patient guidelines for the top 10 cancers. The guidelines are being made available through toll-free numbers and the Internet. The Cancer Society's partner in the project is the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)

Temple football coach Ron Dickerson is recovering nicely after undergoing surgery for prostate cancer, his wife said yesterday. Dickerson was operated on June 9 at Abington Memorial Hospital before being released a few days ago. "He's absolutely fine," Jeanne Dickerson said. "He's getting a lot of rest, and he's feeling very well. God has blessed my husband a great deal, and he's on the road to a full recovery. He looks better than he has in months. " Months ago, Dickerson checked into the hospital after experiencing chest pains.

A failure of oversight and systemic problems in prostate-cancer care at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center caused 92 veterans to receive incorrect doses of radiation to treat their condition, triggering a federal investigation of the hospital's protocols. Most of the vets got significantly less than the prescribed dose from brachytherapy - the use of implanted radioactive seeds to kill cancer cells. Other patients received excessive radiation to nearby tissue and organs. Nearly all of the brachytherapy cases with incorrect doses were performed by a University of Pennsylvania doctor under contract to the VA. That radiation oncologist, Gary Kao, has not seen patients since the problem was discovered last year, said a Penn official.

Almost as soon as the Philadelphia VA Medical Center began offering radiation seed therapy to prostate cancer patients in 2002, questions arose about the quality of the treatment, federal investigators said. Yet it wasn't until a year ago that anything happened. The Philadelphia VA suspended the "brachytherapy" treatment program and began examining whether more than 100 veterans had received inadequate radiation doses. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees such radiation therapy, launched an investigation and published some results this month in the Federal Register.

Men going for physicals in the months ahead may find that the dreaded moment - when their doctors put on a rubber glove and ask them to turn toward the wall on the examining table - will not materialize. That's because a highly influential federal group - the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force - has recommended that the digital rectal exam not be performed on men over 50 who don't have prostate cancer symptoms, such as urination problems or blood in the urine. Similarly, it said in its recommendation that there is no point in getting a prostate-specific antigen (PSA)

I'm not sure exactly what the doctor said on the phone, but I'll never forget what he meant: I had prostate cancer. Cancer. Until my digital rectal examination during April's routine physical, I'd never thought much about cancer - and certainly not on a personal level. No one in my immediate family nor among my intimate friends has ever had cancer, so it was always that fearsome distant thing, like the nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl. No more. My head tingled. My hands were wet. I was frightened.

The doctor accused of giving the wrong radiation dose to dozens of prostate-cancer patients at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center defended himself yesterday for the first time, saying that many critics fail to understand the complexity of the treatments. Just because patients didn't get the prescribed radiation dose doesn't mean their care was ineffective, University of Pennsylvania doctor Gary D. Kao told a U.S. Senate hearing in Philadelphia. Kao admitted problems with the program and said he shared some blame, but "I am not willing to be the scapegoat for the complex, systematic problems.

FATHER'S DAY U.S. Open Experience So, you didn't get him a ticket to Merion. Let him watch on the big screen, practice his putts and pick up some merch at this AmEx-sponsored outdoor event. It's practically the same thing, sorta. Independence Mall, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday, free, usopen.com. Gary Papa Run It's been four years since Philly lost this beloved sportscaster, but his memory lives on in this 11th-annual 5K run-walk (and 1-mile fun walk), which, as always, raises funds to promote awareness of prostate cancer.

In 1982, the surgical cure for prostate cancer was considered worse than the disease. Removing the prostate meant life-threatening bleeding, guaranteed impotence, and a 1 in 4 chance of incontinence. Men feared a life of sexual dysfunction, diapers, humiliation, isolation. No wonder 93 percent of early-stage patients opted for less-debilitating radiation, even though it lacked today's power to wipe out the cancer. The year 1982 was also when Patrick C. Walsh, the self-confident young director of Johns Hopkins University's Brady Urological Institute in Baltimore, sat down with Bob Hastings, a 53-year-old Cleveland economics professor who was reeling from a prostate-cancer diagnosis.