Meeting Videos

On June 1st, we had the pleasure of world renowned Dr. Steven Kaplan speaking to the AnCan Active Surveillance Prostate Cancer virtual support group, in collaboration with ASPI, titled “It Ain’t Your Grandpa’s BPH – An ‘Urgent’ Issue“.

Dr. Kaplan is Director of the Men’s Wellness Program, Mount Sinai Health System and Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is an internationally renowned authority and one of the primary thought leaders in the study of benign diseases, the association of metabolic factors with voiding dysfunction, and female urology, with symptoms related to both benign prostate enlargement and bladder function.

Nearly 400 AS patients, advocates, clinicians, and researchers registered for the ASPI-AnCan webinar, “Your Voice in the future of Active Surveillance” on April 22.

About 200 attended the session live, featuring such leading researchers as Dr. Laurence Klotz, of the University of Toronto, who named AS; Drs. Chris Banga and Ola Bratt, who pioneered AS in Europe, and Drs. Peter Albertsen, and Timothy Witt, who pioneered AS in the United States.

The session was supported and endorsed by AnCan, ASPI, EUROPA UOMO, MaleCare, Movember, PCai, PCRI, PHEN, the Prostate Forum of Orange County, Prostate Cancer Foundation BC, Prostate Cancer Support Canada, TheActiveSurveillor.com, the University of Maryland, and the Walnut Foundation.

Were you anxious after you received your diagnosis of Prostate cancer? Could more compassionate support have reduced your anxiety? Are you now receiving that compassionate support? Our March 26 webinar will address these issues, and we want to learn from you as well. ASPI has a voice and together once we know what we seek, we can make that voice heard.

Panelists with video timeline listing:
Andy Steinfeld – empowered patient from Maryland – 6:19
Bill Manning – empowered HMO patient 12 yrs on AS – 15:16
Dr Madhavi Moharir – Canadian Pediatrician breast cancer survivor who received compassionate care – 27:13
Robin Forbes – Dr Moharir’s social worker who offered psycho/social support for the patient and the family 31:40
Fotini Wolin – Swedish nurse oncologist who is a nurse navigator offering compassionate care from the start of diagnosis-38:20

Ericka Johnson, PhD, professor of gender and society, Linköping University, Sweden, has a new book on the prostate entitled, “A Cultural Biography of the Prostate.” She examines the gland from a societal and historic point of view.

Dr. Lara Bellardita, Ph.D., Psy.D, M.S., for the past decade has been a pioneer in researching the psychological issues faced by men on active surveillance (AS). Dr. Bellardita has been working in the field of oncology since 2009, collaborating with the National Cancer Institute in Milan, Italy, and with other private and non-profit organizations.

This webinar was very special as it involved our friends and board members. The presenters shared their varied journeys including a Gleason 6 all the way up to a Gleason 9. Two have progressed from AS to treatment.

ASPI is supportive of AS, yet is also pro treatment when necessary. We have added the time codes in the video so if you choose you can better locate the presenters that might best relate to you. You can locate the speakers by dragging your mouse sideways across the timeline at the bottom of the video to locate the time.

Here are the presenters:

Thrainn Thorvaldsen                  Gleason 8                 starts at 08:58
Joe Gallo                                       Gleason 8/9             starts at 35:35
David Keller                                 Gleason 7                  starts at 58:01
Phil Segal                                      Gleason 6                 starts at 1:17:53

Top Swedish urologist Ola Bratt, MD, the speaker at the ASPI webinar on Oct. 30, a consultant urological surgeon at the Prostate Cancer Centre, Sahlgrenska University Hospital
Gothenburg, Sweden, said research is clear that men can co-exist with Gleason 6 cancers because they are indolent and virtually never metastasize or spread. He stresses that these cancer cells are not dangerous.
Dr. Bratt, chairman of the Swedish National Prostate Cancer Guidelines Group and who also chairs the committee preparing for a national screening program for prostate cancer, has developed over the years a kinder, gentler way to break the news. He said he tells them: “You have no cancer that needs to be treated.” That statement takes the shock out of the diagnosis.
So active surveillance, close monitoring of the cancer, has been a hit in Sweden among men with very low-risk disease. More than 90% of Swedish men in this situation opt for AS compared to 55% in the U.S. nationally.

Sweden’s Sweet Smell of Success Part 2 – Q & A
Dr. Bratt answers questions during a Q & A session.

Chef Ken Dorr shares stories and useful information after witnessing many individuals turning their health around in a natural and accelerated way. How a Plant-based lifestyle shifted and continues to shape his culinary recipes. “Food preparation has always been a passion of mine. At an early age, I loved to cook and follow my grandmother around the kitchen and garden. Unfortunately, the food we prepared back then was not the healthiest for my heart and overall body.”

A Nutritional Chef Speaks Up Part 2 – Q & A
Ken Dorr answers questions during a Q & A session.

Moving Towards Safer Prostate Biopsies
ASPI focuses again on transperineal vs. transrectal biopsies. The video features:
Agnes Gulbrandsen, a Norwegian hairdresser, who wanted to know why her father died from a brain clot days after undergoing a transrectal prostate biopsy. STARTS @ 10:50

Her father’s urologist, Dr. Truls Bjerklund Johansen, who proved the link and did a study showing that patients could avoid sepsis and infections by undergoing transperineal procedures. STARTS @ 23:00

Dr. Rick Popert, one of the leaders of the TRexit movement to abandon transrectal exams, speaks about how he helped discontinue transrectal procedures in much of the UK. STARTS @58:08

Dr.Jeremy Grummet, an Australian urologist, talks about how his country’s health plan is encouraging transperineal biopsies. STARTS @ 1:21:40

Renowned Cleveland Clinic Urologist Dr. Eric Klein discusses Active Surveillance.
Dr. Klein answers the questions: “What do I actually do while I’m on Active Surveillance?” What tests should I be taking and how often? How do I know if I qualify for Active Surveillance? What indicators will tell me that I must go off Active Surveillance and seek active treatment? Dr. Klein indicated that 15% of Gleason 6s have a molecular make up which may indicate the presence of a more aggressive cancer and in his opinion, genomic testing is critical to identify those cancers.

If you would like to view Dr. Klein’s slides click here: AS Overview July 31 2021

Alan Hsu MD Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, UC San Diego Psychiatrist, Moores Cancer Center Psychiatry & Psychosocial Services talks about the challenges after diagnosis, including mood and anxiety issues, particularly in making a decision to pursue Active Surveillance. He reviews some methods of coping with anxiety and uncertainty, as well as ways to talk about your decision with loved ones who may express their own fears and anxieties regarding AS.

Active Surveillance Patients International held a webinar on micro-ultrasound, a hot new imaging technique that helps detect prostate cancers that mpMRI can miss.

Transperineal (TP) biopsies are emerging as the biggest trend in the care of men on AS for prostate cancer since the mpMRI and genomic testing. The European Urological Association in January 2021 recommended TP as the first choice for biopsies. The American Urological Association will be debating this technology change at its annual meeting in the fall.
A.S.P.I. has assembled an expert panel to discuss why this change is being made, the potential to eliminate sepsis, impact on stewardship of antibiotics, and the differences between transrectal and transperineal biopsies. The discussion will be followed by a question-and-answer period.

Continuation of the Transperineal Biopsy meeting Part 2 – the Q & A session.

We received such positive feedback from our first town hall that we have decided to hold another. David Keller will share his challenges with a biopsy. His story reinforces why ASPI continue its quest for safer biopsies. Joe Gallo will share his story of various genomic tests. Dale Bryant will discuss being on A.S. then opting for treatment.

Dr. Chris Bangma, Chairman of Urology at Erasmus University and Academic Hospital in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, will be the inaugural speaker for Active Surveillance Patients International. Among other topics, he will cover the role of PSA testing in Europe, the role of biopsies and mpMRI scanning, genomics, how AS was developed in Europe, how AS works within the Dutch healthcare system, and what the future holds in terms of liquid biopsy and artificial intelligence.

Active Surveillance Patients International is pleased to announce the launching of its first international webinar. Towards that end we will be having a panel discussion representing patients from 4 countries.  Each will speak briefly and then attendees ask questions.