Researchers debunk myths about prostate cancer treatments
For years it’s been the mainstream mantra as far as radiation for prostate cancer is concerned…
The more the better.
Millions of guys who have been zapped with high-dose radiation were told that they were being cured — and even that the treatment was saving their lives.
But now researchers at one of the nation’s top cancer centers have exposed two disturbing truths that should change how prostate cancer is treated forever.
They’ve found no evidence that exposing yourself to dangerous amounts of radiation will add a single day to your life.
In fact, there’s no good proof that the radiation is doing anything at all.
But it turns out that’s exactly what the mainstream has been doing — and for decades.
Dr. Robert Den, a researcher at Johns Hopkins and author of a just-published study, says that recommendations for high-dose radiation are based on nothing more than assumptions that it will help.
And we all know what happens when you assume, right?
You see, for years the mainstream has been using changes in your PSA test to prove that all that radiation they’re using is working.
And that’s about as scientific as using the Farmer’s Almanac to predict the weather — or the lines on your hand to figure out how long you’re going to live.
Who are they kidding? I’ve been warning you for years that the PSA is one of the least reliable tests out there — one that leads lots of guys to get cancer treatments they don’t need..
So when researchers looked at 7,000 men with localized prostate cancer — to see if high-dose radiation was making a difference — I wasn’t too surprised by two truths they uncovered:
Truth #1: All that radiation didn’t mean the men were going to live any longer, or that they had any better odds of their prostate cancer not spreading.
Truth #2: Given that men’s PSA numbers were going down — even though they weren’t living longer — the PSA test is useless for judging how well radiation works. In other words, docs relying on the PSA can’t prove that all that radiation they’re pumping into you is doing a thing.
So what do those big zaps of radiation achieve?
How about causing more cancer?
As I told you a few weeks ago, new research from Canada found that radiation treatments can be setting you up for some of the deadliest cancers around such as bladder, colon and rectal cancers.
Those are “secondary cancers” that can be caused by radiation, and that strike when you think you’ve finally licked cancer once and for all.
It sounds like the mainstream equivalent of heads they win, tails you lose.
More and more science proves that if you have localized prostate cancer the best approach is something called “active surveillance.”
That means you and your doctor keep an eye on your prostate cancer to see how it develops. And you only consider treatment if it becomes really necessary.
And because prostate cancer often grows very slowly, in lots of cases you’ll never need treatment at all.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, make sure you have a conversation about active surveillance with your doctor.
It may just end up saving you from a barbaric treatment that could do more to shorten your life than extend it.
Sources:
“Higher-dose radiation isn’t necessarily best for prostate cancer” March 29, 2016, NewsMax, newsmax.com
“For prostate cancer, more radiation may not improve survival” Thomas Jefferson University, March 29, 2016, eurekalert.org
