Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers: No More Unnecessary Biopsies, Radical Treatment or Loss of Sexual Potency

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.

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.
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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. --Carl Hays

“A provocative and frank look at the bewildering world of prostate cancer, from the current state of the multibillion-dollar industry to the range of available treatments…prostate cancer is a dark and mysterious country, and Mr. Blum and Dr. Scholz are good, levelheaded guides through these thickets. And in telling men to slow up and take a deep breath after they learn they have prostate cancer, they provide an invaluable service. I wish I had had this book back in 2008.”—Dana Jennings, The New York Times

“An indispensable guide for newly diagnosed and aging males, and their loved ones.”—Booklist

“Prostate cancer, when it is the ‘favorable risk’ variety—about 90% of the time—presents a perfect opportunity to use mainstream and alternative medicine together. In their excellent book, authors Scholz and Blum give a compelling demonstration of this integrative approach to healing.”—Andrew Weil, MD, Director, University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, and author of six New York Times best sellers, including Spontaneous Healing and Natural Health, Natural Medicine                      

 "Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers is a must read for anyone who wants to get a glimpse of what the practice of future medicine needs to be. Dr. Scholz cares not only about the scientific and clinical evidence but also, very deeply and very personally, about his many patients. We need professionals like Scholz if ever we are to move forward in our current health care programs." —T. Colin Campbell, PhD, Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry, Cornell University, and co-author of The China Study

“Ralph Blum’s twenty-year prostate cancer journey shows men how to consider all alternatives in a thoughtful way. Dr. Mark Scholz’s unique medical perspective provides the reassuring scientific support of a prostate oncologist. This book is essential reading for any man newly diagnosed with prostate cancer.” —Dean Ornish, MD

“Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers is a masterpiece of eye-opening science that promises to enhance the lives of thousands of men diagnosed with prostate cancer every year. I give it my highest recommendation." —Christiane Northrup, M.D., ob/gyn physician and author of the New York Times bestsellers: Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause
 
“In an informative and entertaining manner, the authors present a uniquely two-sided perspective on prostate cancer. An excellent book for the newly diagnosed.” —Tanya Dorff, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, USC Keck School of Medicine Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center
 
“If Scholz and Blum do nothing more than change the way so many men think about their prostate cancer from ‘a deadly disease’ to a ‘Low Risk Condition,’ they will have served us well.” —Larry Raithaus, MD, Urologist
 
“Some might consider it a mistake to respond with humor when you are faced with cancer. I say it takes courage, and is a sorely needed remedy—especially when the humor is combined with good sense and state-of-the-art information. As a clinical psychologist who specializes in men's health issues, I say, Bravo, Scholz and Blum!”—Aaron Kipnis, PhD, Author of Knights Without Armor and What Women and Men Really Want

“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.... Good advice based on the brave experiences of two compatible souls and medical mavericks.”—Publishers Weekly

MARK SCHOLZ, MD, 54, is board certified in medical oncology and internal medicine. He has been treating men with prostate cancer exclusively since 1995. Medical Director of Prostate Cancer Specialists, Inc., and Executive Director of the Prostate Cancer Research Institute, Dr. Scholz is also an associate clinical professor at the University of Southern California School of Medicine’s Department of Oncology and a consultant to the Journal of Urology. Dr. Scholz volunteers for the Internet list “Patient to Physician,” found via Resources at www.pcri.org.

RALPH H. BLUM, 77, a cultural anthropologist and author, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University with a degree in Russian Studies. His reporting from the Soviet Union, the first of its kind for The NewYorker (1961—1965), included two three-part series on Russian cultural life. He has written for various magazines, among them Reader’s Digest, Cosmopolitan, and Vogue. Blumhas published three novels and five nonfiction books on the oracular tradition, beginning with The Book of Runes. He has been living with prostate cancer, without radical intervention, for twenty years.

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.