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Low Testosterone and the Risk of Prostate Cancer Progression

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Low Testosterone May Raise Risk of 'Extreme' Prostate Cancer Progression | MedPage Today Informed Prostate Cancer Support Group IPCSG Newsletter March 2026 | Patient Education Series Active Surveillance & Hormonal Biology A Surprising Twist on an Old Story A landmark study from MD Anderson Cancer Center turns decades of conventional wisdom on its head — finding that men with low testosterone may face greater risk of their prostate cancer becoming more aggressive while under watchful waiting. Prepared for the IPCSG Member Community  |  March 2026  |  Based on peer-reviewed research through March 2026 Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) A new study of 924 men on active surveillance found that those with low testosterone (≤300 ng/dL) had a 61% higher risk of their cancer progressing to an aggressive Grade Group 3 or higher. This challenges the century-old belief that high testosterone "feeds" p...
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Epigenetic Inheritance of Disease Raises Concerns About Chemicals

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Epigenetic Inheritance of Disease Raises Concerns About Chemicals Newsletter · March 2026 Patient Education Series Environmental Health & Cancer Risk Toxic Inheritance: How a Single Chemical Exposure Can Shape Health Across 20 Generations Groundbreaking new research shows that pesticides and endocrine-disrupting chemicals can reprogram reproductive cells in ways that drive disease — including prostate disease — in descendants who were never directly exposed. The implications for understanding prostate cancer risk may be profound. |  March 2026  |  Based on peer-reviewed research and recent scientific releases Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) A landmark study published in February 2026 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that a single prenatal exposure to the fungicide vinclozolin caused measurable disease — including prostate and kidney disease — across 20 subsequent generations of rats, with...
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The Surgeon Experience Factor

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IPCSG_Surgeon_Experience_Learning_Curve.html | Claude IPCSG Newsletter  ·  Surgeon Experience & Learning Curve  ·  March 2026 How many cases does it take before a robotic prostatectomy surgeon reaches proficiency? The evidence reveals not one learning curve but several — and one of them may never fully plateau. What patients need to know before choosing a surgeon. March 2026 Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) Surgical experience is one of the strongest independent predictors of outcomes after radical prostatectomy — in some studies as powerful as the choice of surgical technique itself. The research reveals not a single learning curve but a cascade of overlapping ones, each stabilizing at a different case threshold: operative efficiency and complication avoidance improve within the first 50–100 cases; positive surgical margin rates stabilize around 150–200 cases; urinary continence continues improving past 200–400 cases; and erec...
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