Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Every year almost a quarter of a million confused and frightened American men are tossed into a prostate cancer cauldron stirred by salespeople representing a multibillion-dollar industry. In this flourishing business, the radical prostatectomy is still the most widely recommended treatment option. Yet a recent and definitive study in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that out of the fifty thousand prostate operations performed annually, more than forty thousand are unjustified. But this is no surprise given that 99 percent of all doctors treating this disease are surgeons or radiation therapists. The appalling fact is that men are still being rushed into a major operation that rarely prolongs life and more than half the time leaves them impotent.

Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers is a report on the latest thinking in prostate cancer therapy: close monitoring-active surveillance rather than surgery or radiation-should be the initial treatment approach for many men. There are three stages of prostate cancer and this book will provide accurate information about how to distinguish between them: Low-Risk, which requires no immediate treatment; Intermediate-Risk, which will benefit from surgery, radiation, and/or hormonal therapy; and High-Risk , a type that does require immediate treatment with a combination of therapies. In a unique collaboration, doctor and patient provide a wholly new perspective on managing this disease. Ralph Blum's account of his personal struggle, together with Dr.Mark Scholz's presentation of newscientific advances, provides convincing evidence that this noninvasive approach can be crucial in preventing tens of thousands of men from being overtreated every year. Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers serves as an indispensable map through the medical minefield of prostate cancer.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Prologue (p. 1)
• Introduction (p. 3)
• 1 Welcome to Prostate Country (p. 5)
• 2 All the Decision Makers Are Surgeons! (p. 15)
• 3 The Quest for an Enchanted Shotgun (p. 24)
• 4 Commuting the Death Sentence (p. 38)
• 5 A Band of Brothers (p. 48)
• 6 Introducing Active Surveillance (p. 60)
• 7 Life in the Libido-Free Zone (p. 70)
• 8 To Biopsy or Not to Biopsy: Opening Pandora's Box (p. 79)
• 9 The Return of the Prodigal Hard-On (p. 87)
• 10 TIP: Testosterone inactivating Pharmaceuticals (p. 95)
• 11 Invitation to the "Ice Ball" (p. 103)
• 12 A New Look at Radiation (p. 111)
• 13 Nikola Tesla's Magical Mystery Machine (p. 120)
• 14 Quality Imaging: A Doorway to Less Toxic Treatment (p. 128)
• 15 Now Playing for a Limited Time Only: The Combidex Follies (p. 136)
• 16 Deciding on Your Treatment (p. 145)
• 17 Anatomy of an Assisted Suicide (p. 156)
• 18 The Insulin Connection (p. 169)
• 19 Hexing: The Modern Sorcerer's Curse (p. 177)
• 20 Diet and Supplements: An Overview (p. 187)
• 21 Romancing the Immune System (p. 196)
• 22 How Prostate Cancer Can Make You Live Longer: Getting to the Doctor's Office (p. 208)
• 23 By Way of Summing Up (p. 217)
• 24 Genuine Hope for Men with Relapsed Disease (p. 222)
• Appendix: Avodart and Proscar (p. 231)
• Notes (p. 235)
• Acronyms (p. 249)
• Glossary (p. 251)
• Annotated Bibliography (p. 259)
• Prostate Oncologists: A Preliminary List (p. 267)
• Web Sites (p. 271)
• Other Publications (p. 275)
• Acknowledgments (p. 277)
• Index (p. 281)

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

Assume you just learned that you have prostate cancer. As an uninformed layperson you reckon your demise is imminent. All of a sudden you are on death row. Your spouse and family feel this too. Your wife and children wonder about losing their provider. Your friends will look at you differently. So will your insurance company. Now factor in your own shock and horror, the unbalancing and disorienting realization that you have cancer. You have just received the worst news of your life; only moments before you were a normal healthy person. Now you're wondering about splurging on a last set of golf clubs or planning a final get-together for the family in the Bahamas. Feelings of profound grief and terror flood in. Rational thought is gone, emotion takes over. Under these pressured circumstances the urologist smoothly assumes leadership. He seizes the wheel and you become the passenger. Disoriented, you have no idea, no idea at all, of what you have just done. You have become one more dutiful lamb being herded into the pen. You've already had one intimate experience with this stranger. You have already trusted him by allowing him to poke needles into what one woman called "the true heart of the male." What is there to deter you now from trusting him to recommend treatment based on his findings? Why wouldn't you trust him now to prescribe his treatment of choice? It simply doesn't occur to you to think otherwise. The hook has been set. What usually happens is that you uncritically proceed to make an appointment for surgery. Excerpted from Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers: No More Unnecessary Biopsies, Radical Treatment or Loss of Sexual Potency by Mark Scholz, Ralph Blum All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Blum (The Book of Runes), a cultural anthropologist who has been living with prostate cancer (PCa) for 20 years, and his oncologist, Scholz, present an overview of therapies and some of the latest scientific advances in PCa management. Although almost 200,000 American men receive the devastating diagnosis of PCa annually, the authors emphasize that there are three stages of PCa: low risk, which can be safely monitored with no immediate treatment; intermediate risk, which may be treated with a variety of therapies; and, the least common, high risk, which requires immediate attention and often invasive therapy. A key observation is that since low- and intermediate-risk PCa are the most common diagnoses, men should not rush to radical therapies without fully understanding the serious and irreversible implications of invasive therapies. Being PCa afflicted, Blum relates here experiences exemplifying that caution, patience, and a careful search of the available therapeutic spectrum including "active surveillance"-the goal of which is to restrict treatment to those who really need it-can lead to beneficial decision making. VERDICT An up-to-date layperson's overview of available PCa choices. A good selection for consumer health collections.-James Swanton, Harlem Hosp. Lib., New York (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

There are at least half a million reasons-the number of prostate cancer diagnoses in the U.S. and Europe-to read this engaging diary/resource written from the alternating perspectives of doctor and patient. But those who've faced any cancer crisis should also take heed-and heart-from cultural anthropologist Blum, who's lived with prostate cancer for two decades, and oncologist Scholz, an associate clinical professor at USC School of Medicine, who champions "testosterone inactivating pharmaceuticals" for earlystage disease-these reduce levels of testosterone, which prostate cancer cells need to grow. Among cancers, prostate cancer "is the best deal in town," Blum argues-a slow-growing cancer that demands a slow-go approach, second opinion, and, in his own case, a decision to do no more than watch-and-wait. He then gamely examines his own fear-driven homework on standard and alternative treatments: prostatectomy, cryosurgery, radiation, chemicals, and alternative approaches like Eastern medicine and lifestyle changes. Yet in the end, Blum notes, it's the "insight and involvement of the individual" that makes the difference in a patient's outcome. Here's good advice based on the brave experiences of two compatible souls and medical mavericks. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

Each year nearly 500,000 men in both the U.S. and Europe are informed that they have prostate cancer. Along with this frightening news comes pressure from urologists, most of them surgeons, to undergo a radical prostatectomy and avoid a potential death sentence. Yet according to the authors of this eye-opening study of prostate cancer and its current treatment protocols, fully 80 percent of these surgeries are unnecessary. Unlike more lethal cancer varieties, such as breast and lung, prostate cancer is more frequently a milder health condition, and most men live with it for decades, eventually passing away from other causes. Blum, a veteran author and 20-year prostate cancer survivor himself, gives the much-needed patient's viewpoint here, while Scholz, a board-certified oncologist, presents the medical perspective. Together, in two dozen lucid and engaging chapters, the pair offers a balanced guide to navigating through the thicket of doctors, biopsies, incontinence and impotency risks, and the latest surgical and noninvasive treatment options. An indispensable guide for newly diagnosed and aging males, and their loved ones.--Hays, Carl Copyright 2010 Booklist