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"There are differing schools of thoughts regarding whether oligometastases represent isolated lesions—where targeted therapy may render a patient disease free—or whether they coexist with micrometastases, where targeted therapy in addition to systemic therapy is required for maximal clinical impact. As such, the approach to the patient with oligometastatic prostate cancer requires multidisciplinary consideration, with surgery, radiotherapy, and systemic therapy potentially of benefit either singularly or in combination. Indeed, mounting evidence suggests durable disease-free intervals and, in some cases, possibly cure, may be achieved with such a multimodal strategy. However, selecting patients that may benefit most from treatment of oligometastases is an ongoing challenge. " Click on this link to read a paper on oligometastatic prostate cancer from the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Scientific Meeting.

Chemotherapy can cause peripheral neuropathy (damage to your peripheral nerves). Peripheral neuropathy often causes weakness, numbness and pain, usually in your hands and feet. A study of female cancer survivors found that almost half experience chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy symptoms years after completing their cancer treatment. These symptoms were associated with impacts including reduced mobility and significantly increased risk of falls. The results were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Cancer Survivorship Symposium held in San Francisco. The lead researcher said that it is likely that the findings may be applicable to male cancer survivors as well. Click on this link to read the article.

The American Prostate Cancer Foundation identified 8 highlights from this year's Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO).

More from this year's Annual General Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO). Zometa (zoledronic acid), when given to men with bone metastases, has been shown to both delay damage to bones and to extend life. The current standard of care is to give to Zometa every 4 weeks. Research presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting gave the results of a trial which compared giving Zometa every 12 weeks with giving it every 4 weeks. The trial studied 1,822 patients (with three different diseases - Prostate Cancer, breast cancer and multiple myeloma) for a period of 2 years. The trial found that administering Zometa every 12 weeks was not inferior to administering it every 4 weeks. There were no significant differences in side effects between the 2 different dosing schedules. Zometa is given to the patient via an intravenous infusion. There are obvious benefits for the patient in only having to have the treatment every 12 weeks, instead of every 4 weeks. There is also the benefit that a 12 weekly dosing schedule is cheaper than a 4 weekly dosing schedule. It is likely that this research will lead to a change in the frequency of treatments for patients on Zometa. Reference: A randomized phase III study of standard dosing vs. longer interval dosing of zoledronic acid in metastatic cancer. http://meetinglibrary.asco.org/content/147845-156