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View Full Version : Steve Lavin has Early Stage Prostate Cancer



Leck
04-08-2011, 12:59 PM
Here's the link from ESPN:

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/ncb/news/story?id=6308557

I know Lav's hasn't won any friends in the Duke community lately, but certainly wish him the best and a speedy recovery.

moonpie23
04-08-2011, 01:21 PM
bummer........hope he beats it...

weezie
04-08-2011, 04:11 PM
He's kind of young to get it but good that it was caught so early.

coldriver10
04-08-2011, 05:18 PM
I'll start off this post by saying that I absolutely wish him the best and hope he has an excellent outcome. I would never hope for anything less.

Having said that, I did want to mention something about this. There is considerable debate in the medical community about whether screening for prostate cancer is actually a good thing. The issue with prostate cancer is that many, many men will get it and die of a completely unrelated cause years later without ever knowing they had cancer...it's possible this could have been the case for Mr. Lavin. Of course prostate cancer can be deadly, but the benefits of screening (looking for cancer in men without symptoms) may very well be outweighed by the considerable harms.

I only mention this so that those who read an article such as this one don't freak out thinking they need to be screened immediately. I would encourage anyone with any thoughts of being screened to discuss it with one's physician.

anon
04-08-2011, 10:42 PM
Having said that, I did want to mention something about this. There is considerable debate in the medical community about whether screening for prostate cancer is actually a good thing. The issue with prostate cancer is that many, many men will get it and die of a completely unrelated cause years later without ever knowing they had cancer...it's possible this could have been the case for Mr. Lavin. Of course prostate cancer can be deadly, but the benefits of screening (looking for cancer in men without symptoms) may very well be outweighed by the considerable harms.

Sadly, doctors have been successfully sued for giving this very advice. (Source: This American Life)

My best wishes to Lavin.

diablesseblu
04-08-2011, 10:55 PM
Sadly, doctors have been successfully sued for giving this very advice. (Source: This American Life)

My best wishes to Lavin.

My goodness......cannot imagine any discussion where the wisdom of early screening is even an issue. Guys....get screened!!!

My father-in-law delayed a test ..and his possibly treatable prostate cancer had migrated to his bones. He lived five years and it was a difficult, painful time for him.

A friend, in his fifties (and a bit of a hypochondriac), was routinely, obsessively tested and was treated after a very early diagnosis. He's still cancer free after twenty years.

Yes, there are all kinds of difficult decisions to be made re age/treatments after a prostate cancer diagnosis. But seriously, it's one of the most treatable cancers.

I've had innumerable conversations with guys over the years about the import of diagnosis/treatment of this particular illness. We ladies love you guys! Get with the program and realize that...and take care of yourselves. There's too much life to be lived (great Duke bball to see) not to take care of yourselves!

anon
04-08-2011, 11:18 PM
My goodness......cannot imagine any discussion where the wisdom of early screening is even an issue. Guys....get screened!!!

My father-in-law delayed a test ..and his possibly treatable prostate cancer had migrated to his bones. He lived five years and it was a difficult, painful time for him.

A friend, in his fifties (and a bit of a hypochondriac), was routinely, obsessively tested and was treated after a very early diagnosis. He's still cancer free after twenty years.

Yes, there are all kinds of difficult decisions to be made re age/treatments after a prostate cancer diagnosis. But seriously, it's one of the most treatable cancers.

I've had innumerable conversations with guys over the years about the import of diagnosis/treatment of this particular illness. We ladies love you guys! Get with the program and realize that...and take care of yourselves. There's too much life to be lived (great Duke bball to see) not to take care of yourselves!

My sympathies for your family's struggle with cancer.

The problem with the current prostate cancer test is that it is vulnerable both to false positives and false negatives. Some sources say that as many as 2 out of every 3 positives from the PSA test are false positives. Treating those people for prostate cancer can cause, overall, more harm than good.

diablesseblu
04-08-2011, 11:29 PM
My sympathies for your family's struggle with cancer.

The problem with the current prostate cancer test is that it is vulnerable both to false positives and false negatives. Some sources say that as many as 2 out of every 3 positives from the PSA test are false positives. Treating those people for prostate cancer can cause, overall, more harm than good.

Oh, I understand and agree completely about the issues with the PSA test. However, my concerns are about issues relating to the guys' "tribal information" re treatment and its long term implications.

I've heard from too many fellows that they would rather not be tested rather than "risk" some types of treatment and the possible risk of impotence. Get a grip guys! We ladies who love you want you with us..........whatever you're capable of (or not...whatever the case may be).

coldriver10
04-09-2011, 12:21 PM
Sadly, doctors have been successfully sued for giving this very advice. (Source: This American Life)

My best wishes to Lavin.
Unfortunately, doctors have been successfully sued for anything that has the potential for a lawsuit (and pretty much everything in medicine does). The fear of being sued has led to excessive testing, which has driven up the cost of healthcare big time.

The physicians I work with don't advocate testing PSAs in men who are asymptomatic, and I think as more data is released, the more doctors will head in this direction (my opinion only). But just to be clear, I am NOT remotely suggesting that no one should be tested, but merely that men should have this discussion with their doctors and weigh the costs/benefits for their individual cases.

Sorry for the tangent! I didn't mean to detract from the topic at hand, mainly wishing Coach Lavin the best.

coldriver10
04-09-2011, 12:48 PM
Oops, duplicate. (but while I'm at it, I'll add that family history of cancer is also very important!)

moonpie23
04-09-2011, 12:58 PM
The physicians I work with don't advocate testing PSAs in men who are asymptomatic, and I think as more data is released, the more doctors will head in this direction (my opinion only). But just to be clear, I am NOT remotely suggesting that no one should be tested, but merely that men should have this discussion with their doctors and weigh the costs/benefits for their individual cases.



wait.....so i am confused now.....how is it harmful to be screened?

coldriver10
04-09-2011, 01:27 PM
wait.....so i am confused now.....how is it harmful to be screened?
In several ways. The first step in screening is the PSA, which is a blood test. An elevated PSA can occur in prostate cancer, but can also occur in benign conditions like BPH...I believe the percentage of mild-moderate elevation in PSAs that indicate cancer is ~25%, which means 3/4 of those with this degree of PSA elevation don't have cancer. So, if PSA is elevated, this leads to prostate biopsy. Again, ~75% of those who get biopsied don't have cancer. Finally, if cancer is diagnosed, there are a variety of treatment options, which all have their significant side effects. The obvious question here is, "well, it's cancer! Who cares about the side effects?" But the issue with prostate cancer is that most of the cases are very slow-growing and may not have led to the person's death had it not been removed. In fact, the current recommendations are that prostate cancer screening should be offered to the patient annually by physicians, whereas it used to be "should be done annually."

There are always exceptions, and prostate cancer can absolutely be a deadly disease that should not be taken lightly. That's why all the facts should be discussed with one's physician before deciding on screening and treatment options.

If you're interested in reading more, the Wikipedia article seems quite good (I just skimmed a couple sections but it seems accurate). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostate_cancer#Screening. Check out the "Screening" section for a brief explanation of the issues of screening.

-jk
04-09-2011, 01:58 PM
I wish Lavin the best. The thread has moved on, though, so I'm closing it.

-jk