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Time Business News
5 days ago
- Health
- Time Business News
Kevin Dowd's Unyielding Spirit in the Fight Against Prostate Cancer
When confronted with one of life's most formidable challenges, Kevin Dowd of Rochester NY responded not with fear but with fierce determination. Diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer in 2022, Kevin's journey has become a symbol of perseverance, hope, and the power of early intervention. Kevin Dowd's story began like many others — with a routine health check. Elevated PSA levels led to further tests and ultimately a diagnosis of acinar adenocarcinoma, one of the most aggressive types of prostate cancer. The cancer carried a Gleason Score of 9 (4+5) and was classified as Grade Group 5, confirming the seriousness of his condition. With 33% of the prostate gland affected, and evidence of extraprostatic extension and perineural invasion, the cancer had already begun spreading. Though the news was devastating, Kevin Dowd of Churchville NY didn't allow himself to be paralyzed by fear. Working closely with a team of oncologists and surgeons in Rochester, he underwent a robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy — a procedure that removed the prostate and surrounding tissues. During surgery, doctors also performed a pelvic lymph node dissection, which showed the cancer had metastasized to one of five lymph nodes, elevating his diagnosis to Stage IVA (pT3a, pN1). Positive margins found during surgery further complicated the prognosis. Still, Kevin Dowd didn't lose heart. Instead, he and his care team crafted an aggressive, multi-layered treatment plan designed to slow the cancer and reduce the risk of recurrence. In November 2022, he began androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) with Leuprolide, a hormone therapy aimed at lowering testosterone levels — a key driver of prostate cancer growth. In December 2022, Kevin Dowd started pelvic radiation therapy, targeting the areas where cancer cells might remain, including the surgical site and lymph nodes. This phase of treatment was physically demanding, but Kevin met each session with patience and resolve. To further block androgen production, Kevin Dowd was prescribed Abiraterone, a medication that halts androgen synthesis from not only the testes but also the adrenal glands and the tumor itself. To manage the side effects, Prednisone was added to his daily regimen. Throughout this journey Kevin Dowd has leaned on his deep-rooted sense of purpose and the strong network surrounding him. Whether in Churchville resting between treatments or consulting with specialists in Rochester, he maintained active engagement in his care and refused to let cancer dictate the terms of his life. Kevin Dowd's experience is more than a medical case; it's a story of inner strength. His willingness to confront harsh realities, make bold treatment decisions, and embrace modern therapies has given him the best possible chance at long-term survival. He serves as a beacon for others in Rochester and Churchville NY who may be facing similar health battles. His story is a reminder that early detection, combined with an assertive treatment plan and a strong support system, can turn the tide against even the most aggressive cancers. While the road ahead still includes regular monitoring and continued therapy, Kevin Dowd's unyielding spirit remains intact. His courage in the face of adversity proves that while cancer may be strong — the human will to survive is stronger. #KevinDowd KevinDowd Kevin-Dowd Kevin Dowd TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
AI to help end ‘postcode lottery' for vital prostate cancer drug
AI could bring an end to the "postcode lottery" surrounding a life-extending treatment for advanced prostate cancer, researchers have said. A study has discovered that the technology can identify the patients who will benefit most from a "game changer" drug. Abiraterone, a hormone therapy that blocks testosterone production to prevent the growth of prostate cancer, is approved for NHS use in England for patients with advanced prostate cancer that has spread. However, it is not approved for men newly diagnosed with high-risk prostate cancer that has not yet spread, even though it has been available for these patients in Scotland and Wales for the past two years. The new test, developed by Artera, uses AI to detect features invisible to the human eye on images of tumour samples. The study, led by The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and University College London (UCL), ran the test on biopsy images from more than 1,000 men who took part in the Stampede trial. Patients were given a score of either biomarker-positive or biomarker-negative. Researchers found abiraterone reduced the risk of death among biomarker-positive patients from 17 per cent to 9 per cent. In biomarker-negative patients, the drug cut death risk from 7 per cent to 4 per cent, with researchers suggesting this indicates these men would benefit from standard therapy. Nick James, a professor of prostate and bladder cancer research at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and consultant clinical oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, is chief investigator of Stampede and co-led the new study. He said: 'This research shows that we can pick out the people who will respond best to abiraterone, and those who will do well from standard treatment alone – hormone therapy and radiotherapy. 'Access to this life-extending drug is currently a postcode lottery – with those living in Scotland and Wales able to receive the treatment for free. 'The NHS in England has previously decided that it would be too expensive to offer the drug. Since the patent expired in 2022, abiraterone costs just £77 per pack – compared with the thousands of pounds that new drugs cost. 'Previous research by my team has shown that preventing cancer relapses for these men would save more money than the drug costs to purchase. 'I truly hope that this new research – showing precisely who needs the drug to live well for longer – will lead to NHS England reviewing their decision not to fund abiraterone for high-risk prostate cancer that has not spread.' Prof James also highlighted that while abiraterone can have 'spectacular' results, it does have side effects. 'Abiraterone has already hugely improved the outlook for hundreds of thousands of men with advanced prostate cancer,' he said. 'We know that for many men with cancer that has not yet spread, it can also have spectacular results. 'But it does come with side effects and requires additional monitoring for potential issues with high blood pressure or liver abnormalities. 'It can also slightly increase the risk of diabetes and heart attacks, so knowing who is most likely to benefit is very valuable.' Experts hope the findings, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago, may lead to a change in the availability of abiraterone in England. Prof Kristian Helin, chief executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, said the drug has been a 'game changer for treatment of prostate cancer'. 'Alongside our mission to find smarter, kinder treatments, we must ensure we are matching the right drugs to the right patients,' he added. 'This research, using artificial intelligence, provides an innovative route to testing prostate cancer patients to determine their treatment. 'I hope that this can be implemented so that all men with prostate cancer who will benefit from abiraterone can do so.' Dr Matthew Hobbs, director of research at Prostate Cancer UK, said: 'Prostate Cancer UK has been calling on the UK Government to approve this life-saving, cost-effective drug for over two years. 'These exciting results suggest a way to make this an even more cost-effective approach. 'We therefore echo the researchers' urgent call for abiraterone to be made available to those men whose lives it can save – men who, thanks to this research, we can now identify more precisely than ever before.'
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New AI test can predict which men will benefit from prostate cancer drug
Doctors have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can predict which men with prostate cancer will benefit from a drug that halves the risk of dying. Abiraterone has been described as a 'gamechanger' treatment for the disease, which is the most common form of cancer in men in more than 100 countries. It has already helped hundreds of thousands with advanced prostate cancer to live longer. But some countries, including England, have stopped short of offering the 'spectacular' drug more widely to men whose disease has not spread. Now a team from the US, UK and Switzerland have built an AI test that shows which men would most likely benefit from abiraterone. The 'exciting' breakthrough will enable healthcare systems to roll out the drug to more men, and spare others unnecessary treatment. The AI test is being unveiled in Chicago at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the world's largest cancer conference. Nick James, professor of prostate and bladder cancer research at the Institute of Cancer Research in London and a consultant clinical oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS foundation trust, co-led the team that built it. 'Abiraterone has already hugely improved the outlook for hundreds of thousands of men with advanced prostate cancer,' said James. 'We know that for many men with cancer that has not yet spread, it can also have spectacular results. 'But it does come with side-effects and requires additional monitoring for potential issues with high blood pressure or liver abnormalities. It can also slightly increase the risk of diabetes and heart attacks, so knowing who is most likely to benefit is very valuable. 'This research shows that we can pick out the people who will respond best to abiraterone, and those who will do well from standard treatment alone – hormone therapy and radiotherapy.' The test uses AI to study images of tumours and pick out features invisible to the human eye. The team, funded by Prostate Cancer UK, the Medical Research Council and Artera, trialled the test on biopsy images from more than 1,000 men with high-risk prostate cancer that had not spread. The AI test identified the 25% of men in the group most likely to benefit from the abiraterone – for these men, the drug halves the risk of death. In the trial, patients received a score – biomarker-positive or -negative – which was compared with their outcomes. For those with biomarker-positive tumours, one in four of the men, abiraterone cut their risk of death after five years from 17% to 9%. For those with biomarker-negative tumours, abiraterone cut the risk of death from 7% to 4% – a difference that was not statistically or clinically significant, the team said. These men would benefit from standard therapy alone and be spared unnecessary treatment. The study co-leader Prof Gert Attard, of the UCL Cancer Institute, said: 'This study shows, in a very large cohort of patients, that novel algorithms can be used to extract information from routinely available pathology slides to tailor these treatments to specific patients and minimise over treatment whilst maximising the chance of cure.' James said that because fewer men than previously thought would need the drug, healthcare systems should consider giving it to men whose cancer had not spread. It is approved for NHS use in England for advanced prostate cancer, but not for newly diagnosed high-risk disease that has not spread. However, it has been available for men with this indication in Scotland and Wales for two years. 'Abiraterone costs just £77 per pack, compared with the thousands of pounds that new drugs cost,' said James. 'I truly hope that this new research – showing precisely who needs the drug to live well for longer – will lead to NHS England reviewing their decision not to fund abiraterone for high-risk prostate cancer that has not spread.' Dr Matthew Hobbs, director of research at Prostate Cancer UK, described the AI test as 'exciting'. He added: 'We therefore echo the researchers' urgent call for abiraterone to be made available to those men whose lives it can save – men who, thanks to this research, we can now identify more precisely than ever before.' An NHS spokesperson said: 'Following a full evidence-based assessment, expanding access to this drug for non-metastatic prostate cancer has been identified as one of the top priorities for investment once the necessary recurrent funding is available to support its use. 'Abiraterone continues to be routinely funded by the NHS in England for several forms of advanced prostate cancer in line clinical guidance, and we are keeping this position under close review in light of emerging evidence, including recent research that may help better target the treatment to those most likely to benefit.'
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ASCO25: AI test shown to aid in prostate cancer treatment planning
New research has demonstrated that an AI-based test developed by US-based Artera can help identify which men with non-metastatic high-risk prostate cancer are most likely to benefit from being administered abiraterone. Abiraterone (Zytiga) is an androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) used in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) that no longer responds to standard hormone therapy. The ArteraAI test assesses prostate needle biopsy images to provide risk stratification and prediction of the benefits of ADT for prostate cancer patients. Researchers from the UK's Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and University College London (UCL) applied the test to biopsy images from more than 1,000 men who took part in the Stampede trial (NCT00268476), coordinated by the Medical Research Council (MRC) Clinical Trials Unit at UCL and funded by Cancer Research UK. ArteraAI helped identify that 25% of men with high-risk prostate cancer from the Stampede trial who would most likely benefit from receiving abiraterone. For those patients with biomarker-positive tumours, abiraterone cut the risk of death after five years from 17% to 9%. Full details of the study will be shared during a presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2025 meeting, taking place from 30 May to 3 June in Chicago, Illinois. Nick James, professor of prostate and bladder cancer research at the Institute of Cancer Research and consultant clinical oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, served as chief investigator on the STAMPEDE and is co-leader of the current research. James noted that since abiraterone comes with potential side effects that may require additional monitoring, such as potential issues with high blood pressure and liver abnormalities, knowing who is most likely to benefit is 'very valuable'. He said: 'This research shows that we can pick out the people who will respond best to abiraterone, and those who will do well from standard treatment alone – hormone therapy and radiotherapy.' Abiraterone is indicated for use on the UK National Health Service (NHS) in England for patients with advanced prostate cancer that has come back and spread to other parts of the body, but not for patients newly diagnosed with high-risk prostate cancer that has not yet spread. However, abiraterone has been available for men with this indication in Scotland and Wales for two years. The study's co-lead UCL Cancer Institute professor Gert Attard commented: 'This study shows, in a very large cohort of patients, that novel algorithms can be used to extract information from routinely available pathology slides to tailor these treatments to specific patients and minimise over-treatment while maximising the chance of cure." "ASCO25: AI test shown to aid in prostate cancer treatment planning" was originally created and published by Medical Device Network, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ASCO25: AI test shown to aid in prostate cancer treatment planning
New research has demonstrated that an AI-based test developed by US-based Artera can help identify which men with non-metastatic high-risk prostate cancer are most likely to benefit from being administered abiraterone. Abiraterone (Zytiga) is an androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) used in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) that no longer responds to standard hormone therapy. The ArteraAI test assesses prostate needle biopsy images to provide risk stratification and prediction of the benefits of ADT for prostate cancer patients. Researchers from the UK's Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and University College London (UCL) applied the test to biopsy images from more than 1,000 men who took part in the Stampede trial (NCT00268476), coordinated by the Medical Research Council (MRC) Clinical Trials Unit at UCL and funded by Cancer Research UK. ArteraAI helped identify that 25% of men with high-risk prostate cancer from the Stampede trial who would most likely benefit from receiving abiraterone. For those patients with biomarker-positive tumours, abiraterone cut the risk of death after five years from 17% to 9%. Full details of the study will be shared during a presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2025 meeting, taking place from 30 May to 3 June in Chicago, Illinois. Nick James, professor of prostate and bladder cancer research at the Institute of Cancer Research and consultant clinical oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, served as chief investigator on the STAMPEDE and is co-leader of the current research. James noted that since abiraterone comes with potential side effects that may require additional monitoring, such as potential issues with high blood pressure and liver abnormalities, knowing who is most likely to benefit is 'very valuable'. He said: 'This research shows that we can pick out the people who will respond best to abiraterone, and those who will do well from standard treatment alone – hormone therapy and radiotherapy.' Abiraterone is indicated for use on the UK National Health Service (NHS) in England for patients with advanced prostate cancer that has come back and spread to other parts of the body, but not for patients newly diagnosed with high-risk prostate cancer that has not yet spread. However, abiraterone has been available for men with this indication in Scotland and Wales for two years. The study's co-lead UCL Cancer Institute professor Gert Attard commented: 'This study shows, in a very large cohort of patients, that novel algorithms can be used to extract information from routinely available pathology slides to tailor these treatments to specific patients and minimise over-treatment while maximising the chance of cure." "ASCO25: AI test shown to aid in prostate cancer treatment planning" was originally created and published by Medical Device Network, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
