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Prostate Cancer Patients Confronting Mortality:

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 How Men with Prostate Cancer Face Mortality BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): Men with prostate cancer face unique psychological challenges when confronting mortality, often complicated by masculine norms that discourage emotional expression and help-seeking. Research shows that death anxiety affects 25-45% of prostate cancer patients, varying by disease stage and treatment status. Evidence-based interventions—including male-focused support groups like IPCSG, Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy adapted for men, and engagement with artistic explorations of mortality such as films "The Seventh Seal" and "All That Jazz"—can significantly reduce existential distress. Men who openly address mortality concerns through peer support, legacy work, and professional counseling report better psychological outcomes and quality of life than those who suppress these fears. The Unique Challenge for Men with Prostate Cancer When you're diagnosed with prostate cancer, you join approxi...
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Prostate Cancer Patients - Living With Uncertainty:

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What Job, Candide, and Pollyanna Can Teach Cancer Patients About Navigating the Long Journey BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) Cancer patients face a unique form of suffering: chronic uncertainty that demands sustained coping strategies over months or years. Three classic works of literature—the biblical Book of Job, Voltaire's "Candide," and Eleanor Porter's "Pollyanna"—offer different frameworks for responding to undeserved suffering. Job demands answers and accountability; Candide rejects cosmic justifications and focuses on practical action; Pollyanna maintains psychological resilience through deliberate focus on what remains good. Modern research on cancer patient psychology, resilience, and meaning-making suggests that patients often need elements from all three approaches at different points in their journey. Recent studies show that neither forced optimism nor passive acceptance produces the best outcomes—instead, "flexible coping" that adapts ...
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New Study Reveals Hidden Lymph Node Cancer Despite Clear PSMA PET Scans

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Pelvic Lymph Node Staging With PSMA PET in Prostate Cancer: Surgical Validation With Implications for Radiotherapy Planning - Ozen - The Prostate - Wiley Online Library BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): A Turkish surgical study found that 12% of prostate cancer patients with negative PSMA PET scans still had microscopic cancer in their pelvic lymph nodes when examined after surgery. This important finding suggests that even advanced imaging can miss small amounts of cancer spread, which has significant implications for treatment planning—particularly for patients considering radiation therapy instead of surgery. The Promise and Limitations of Modern Imaging PSMA PET/CT scanning has revolutionized how doctors detect prostate cancer spread. This advanced imaging technique uses a radioactive tracer that attaches to prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), a protein highly expressed on prostate cancer cells. When cancer has spread to lymph nodes, these scans can often detect it far better...
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ESMO Revises Early Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Monitoring

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ESMO Revises Early Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Monitoring ESMO Issues Major Update to Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): The European Society for Medical Oncology has released updated clinical practice guidelines that fundamentally change how prostate cancer is diagnosed and monitored, emphasizing safer biopsy procedures, precision imaging before tissue sampling, and aggressive early treatment for high-risk biochemical recurrence. The new recommendations prioritize multiparametric MRI before biopsy, mandate the safer transperineal biopsy approach, and introduce combination androgen deprivation therapy with enzalutamide for patients with rapidly rising PSA after initial treatment—even without visible metastases. A Paradigm Shift in Prostate Cancer Care The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has comprehensively revised its clinical practice guidelines for localized prostate cancer and biochemical recurrence, representing one of...
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