Us -Too! Brampton General Meeting 
Nov 13, 2007

"Conservative Management of
Localized Prostate Cancer"

Dr. Andrew Loblaw

Over 60 members, wives and guests attended this excelllent and informative talk. by
Dr. Andrew Loblaw

Dr. Loblaw covered a subject, which they were, to quote him "very passionate about at Sunny Brook"
The talk included a comprehensive coverageof 'Active Surveillance vs.Watchful Waiting' -
strategies to minimize side effects of PCa Treatment. Its a topic our members have been
requesting and eager to learn about.

Dr. Loblaw stressed that between the two strategies it was essential to understand what
the side effects were and why "driving down both cul-de-sacs" so to say, was essential
to make informed decisions. Drawing from his personal interests in high end automobiles
Dr. Loblaw drew interesting parallels how technological evolution had impacted past
50 years of Prostate cancer treatment.

In the early days most men presented when the disease had spread far but the
introduction PSa blood testing in the1980s lead to new concepts in disease management
- he humorously termed it a whole new disease : 'PSaitis'. With early testing, localized
treatments could now be offered with a high chance of a cure, including surgery and
radiation. In the 2000s era one would really have to reconsider the term 'Normal PSa'.
Ideally a PSa with NO chance of PCa should be considered normal - that level
would be likely be Zero. Since all men produced some PSa there was always a risk
of Prostate cancer regardless of the generally accepted guidleine of PSa upto 4 being
considered 'normal'. To illustrate this point he presented study data quantifying
the risk factor variance with PSa level and age.

He expanded on the the terms Watchful waiting versus Active Surveillance and
decision process for treatment intervention. The talk included a coverage on the
treatment advances in the areas of Radation, Brachetaheraby, Surgery and Hormones.

Dr. Loblaw explained some of the tools and techniques developed by Sunnybrook
to track PSa and PSa doubling time prediction. These techniques include many
advanced mathematical algorithms, linear regression and other modeling. He presented examples
illustrating the use of these tools to establish risk profiles and treatment decision points.

The good news is that members can take advantage of the PSa caculator tool on a secure Sunnybrook
adminstered website to track their own PSa profile, predicted PSa doubling time
and become better informed of their status. In response to numerous requests the link is given here:

http://psakinetics.sunnybrook.ca
Once on the page please click on the PSa calculator

The talk closed with a snap shot of the trials and programs ongoing at Sunnybrook.

The talk was followed by a highly interactive Questions and Answer session. Dr. Loblaw's easy
going humor and informal presentation style connected well with the audience. Member
feedback and comment was that it was an excellent talk. We are pleased to offer Audio
and Presentation slides downloads of this session - the links are provided further down.

We are looking forward to the February 2008 session with Dr. Loblaw presenting :

"Timing of Hormones After Treatment
Failure & New RT Techniques"

About Dr. Andrew Loblaw

Dr. Andrew Loblaw is a Radiation Oncologist and an Associated Professor
in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto.
He has a Masters in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Toronto
and is a graduate of the Royal College's Clinician Investigator Program.

His clinical practice focuses on Prostate Cancer and he has a research interest
in improving outcomes for individuals with malignant spinal cord compression and
for men with prostate cancer.

He is Director of Radiation Oncology Research and Deputy Head of the Department of
Clinical Trials and Epidemiology at the Odette Cancer Center. He has authored
over 40 peer-reviewed papers, is the North American Editor for Clinical Oncology
and has been awarded grant funding of over $6.5 million dollars.

AUDIO & SLIDES DOWNLOADS

AUDIO:
Track 01: Conservative Management Talk Part 1
http://www.ustoo-brampton.com/loblaw07/Conservative Management Talk.ram
[14.9Mbytes, Talk time: 01:01:36]
Total Down load times: 
Approx.: 37 Min. (56Kbps - Dial up)
Approx.: 5 Mins  (384Kbps - Cable DSL Low)

Track 02: Conservative Management Q & A session
http://www.ustoo-brampton.com/loblaw07/Conservative Management QA.ram
[4.31 Mbytes, Talk time: 00:17:15]
Total Down load times: 
Approx.: 12 Min. (56Kbps - Dial up)
Approx.: 2 Mins  (384Kbps - Cable DSL Low)

SLIDES: Conservative Management Presentation slides
http://www.ustoo-brampton.com/loblaw07/Conservative Management Slides.pdf
[Acrobat File, Size: 1.9 Mbytes, Pages: 56]

Our thanks to Dr. Andrew Loblaw for a
an excellent presentation.