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Insurance Considerations for Men Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer

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A Rose by Any Other Name An IPCSG Newsletter Feature — companion to "What Men Need to Know Before Saying 'Yes' to a Genetic Test" Companion piece: This article picks up where the previous IPCSG feature on germline genetic testing left off. That article addressed the question of insurance timing for untested family members contemplating a genetic test before any diagnosis. This one addresses the question many already-diagnosed members ask: now that I have the diagnosis on my chart, what does that actually mean for any new insurance I might want to buy? "What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet." — Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene II Juliet was wrong, at least about prostate cancer. The name very much matters. A pathologist's report that uses the word "cancer" to describe a microscopic finding of pure-pattern-3 prostate adenocarcinoma — a condition that may never affect the man'...
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What Men Need to Know Before Saying "Yes" to a Genetic Test:

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What tools do men need to make an informed decision about germline genetic testing for prostate cancer? A qualitative and survey study | medRxiv What Men Need to Know Before Saying "Yes" to a Genetic Test: A New Study Asks the Patients Themselves An IPCSG Newsletter Feature — based on the Raspin et al. (2026) Tasmanian co-design study and a broad survey of current research, guidelines, and law. BLUF — Bottom Line Up Front Genetic testing now matters at every stage. Both the NCCN (Version 1.2025) and ASCO (2025) guidelines now recommend germline (inherited) genetic testing for every man with metastatic prostate cancer and most men with high-risk localized disease. About 1 in 10 men with metastatic prostate cancer carries an inherited mutation that changes treatment options. The most important genes are BRCA2, BRCA1, ATM, CHEK2, PALB2, HOXB13, and the Lynch-syndrome (MMR) genes. A BRCA2 mutation, in particular, signals more aggressive disease and opens the...
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When Scans Tell a Different Story:

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Radiographic Progression and PSA in Advanced Prostate Cancer Advanced Prostate Cancer Radiographic Progression and PSA Increase in Patients Treated With Enzalutamide - The ASCO Post A patient-friendly summary of new research on disease monitoring with enzalutamide Bottom Line Up Front New research shows that in men with advanced prostate cancer taking enzalutamide, cancer can progress visibly on imaging scans (CT, bone scans, or MRI) without a corresponding rise in PSA levels . This happens significantly more often than previously recognized. The key takeaway: don't rely on PSA alone to monitor treatment response. Regular imaging studies are essential, even when PSA appears stable or is declining. Understanding the Finding: A Tale of Two Measurements For decades, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) has been the cornerstone of how doctors track whether advanced prostate cancer is responding to t...
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