Informed Prostate Cancer Patient Support

New techniques slash infection risks,  making repeat biopsies more tolerable for men monitoring low-risk disease BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): For men on active surveillance—who may face multiple biopsies over years of monitoring—safer biopsy techniques are game-changing. The transperineal approach reduces infection risks from up to 9% to less than 1% by avoiding rectal bacteria entirely. Combined with MRI-fusion targeting, these methods detect cancer progression more accurately while minimizing complications. This makes active surveillance more sustainable and less anxiety-provoking, particularly important as surveillance protocols now recommend biopsies every 1-3 years indefinitely. The Active Surveillance Challenge When Tom Martinez learned his Gleason 6 prostate cancer qualified for active surveillance rather than immediate treatment, he felt relieved—until his urologist explained the monitoring protocol. "You'll need follow-up biopsies every year or two," his doc...

How You Can Use AI to Answer Your Cancer Questions AI as Your Cancer Care Co-Pilot: A New Guide for Informed Patients BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) The Cancer Patient Lab has developed a structured framework to help cancer patients and caregivers safely use AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude for medical decision-making. The approach emphasizes AI literacy, structured workflows, and critical evaluation of AI-generated information while acknowledging both the promise and pitfalls of these powerful tools. As artificial intelligence transforms how we access medical information, cancer patients face both unprecedented opportunities and significant risks. The Cancer Patient Lab, led by Brad Power and Dr. Chris Appel, has created a comprehensive guide to help patients navigate this new frontier safely and effectively. The Growing Role of AI in Cancer Care The statistics tell a compelling story: where 90% of patients once turned to "Dr. Google" for medical questions, many are no...

Example of a Hypothetical AI-Generated Clinical Visit Transcript and the Resulting Draft Note. AI Medical Scribes: Should Your Doctor's Notes Keep the Full Conversation? AI Medical Scribes: Should Your Doctor's Notes Keep the Full Conversation? BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT: AI scribes that automatically transcribe doctor visits are being widely adopted across healthcare, but most U.S. hospitals are deleting these valuable transcripts immediately after finalizing patient notes—primarily due to malpractice liability fears. This practice prevents researchers from evaluating AI accuracy, studying diagnostic errors, and advancing medical knowledge, while AI companies retain the data to train future products. Experts argue that with proper safeguards, these transcripts represent "digital gold" for improving healthcare quality and safety. The Rise of AI Medical Scribes Artificial intelligence has entered the exam room. AI scribes—software tools powered by large language models—n...

FDA OKs Blood-Based Test to Help Detect High-Grade Prostate Tumors | MedPage Today FDA Approves New Blood Test to Better Detect Aggressive Prostate Cancer BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): The FDA has approved IsoPSA, a novel blood test that analyzes PSA at the molecular level to more accurately identify men with aggressive prostate cancer. In clinical studies, the test demonstrated 90% sensitivity for detecting high-grade tumors while potentially reducing unnecessary biopsies by 55%, offering men with elevated PSA a more precise tool for deciding whether to proceed with biopsy. Understanding the New Test Men facing elevated PSA levels now have access to a more sophisticated diagnostic tool following the FDA's December 2025 approval of Cleveland Diagnostics' IsoPSA test. Unlike standard PSA testing, which measures only the total amount of prostate-specific antigen in blood, IsoPSA examines the structural variations (isoforms) of the PSA molecule itself to determine whether eleva...

Lose the Wait: What Happens When Your MRI Meets AI How Patients Are Taking Control Before Their Doctor Appointments BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) Prostate cancer patients can now request their MRI results immediately after scanning and use large language models like Claude and ChatGPT to understand complex medical terminology before meeting with their doctors. This emerging practice, combined with breakthrough AI systems achieving expert-level accuracy in detecting clinically significant prostate cancer, is fundamentally transforming the patient-doctor relationship from passive recipients to informed partners in care. As of January 2025, over 1,250 AI-enabled medical devices have received FDA clearance, with radiology applications comprising approximately 75% of these approvals. The Two-Week Wait Is Over For decades, the process has been the same: get your prostate MRI, leave the imaging center with nothing but worry, and wait two weeks or more for an appointment to learn your fate....