Please give a warm welcome to Sophie Katie to the prostate Paladin community. Sophie is interested in Good vibes, real conversations and endless curiosity. @sophie-katie We are glad you are here.Please dive in and begin your prostate awareness journey.

Researchers at Umeå University, Sweeden, and international collaborators have developed a promising fully human antibody against agressive prostate cancer in preclinical testing. So, yes this is not available yet, but it shows promise against slowing the cancer when it is ready to jump from the prostate to the rest of the body. Most men who have prostate cancer can watch and wait - it is one of the slowest growing cancers and has a 98% success rate of cure for 10 years or more; when caught before spreading outside the prostate. That is the dangerous step, once it spreads to the lymph nodes or bones, things become much more difficult. This antibody (published in 'Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy') was able to slow tumor growth and block metastasis (process where cancer spreads to other parts of the body), in preclinical studies of agressive prostate cancer. Maréne Landström, Professor of Pathology at the Department of Medical Biosciences, Umeå University, who led the study; say they have been able to identify the mechanisms that drive cancer cell growth, invasiveness and metastatic spread. "Agressive Prostate Cancer needs more options for treatment." Most prostate cancers are slow growing and men will die of old age or something else before it becomes a problem. But, in those rare case where the cancer is aggressive, new treatments are needed, and this antibody shows promise. Landström and colleagues led the development of a fully human antibody (made entirely from human proteins). This makes the antibody more suitable for people. In preclinical trials, the antibody stopped both tumor growth and metastic spread of an agressive form of prostate cancer. The treatment attacks the cancer through a biological route, that differs from existing treatments, it is a new mechanism. The researchers believe this will lead to reduced side effects. The antibody behaved as intended in the models tested, which is important in moving forward towards clinical use.

I read a small local story this week that I keep thinking about. Because it highlights that men are not alone in this struggle. A man called Carlos Allen in Louisiana rang the bell at his cancer center last week. Three years ago he was told he had prostate cancer. Now he is cancer free, and when he rang that bell his whole family was standing around him. What he said was the bit that got me. He said it showed him how a family comes together in the good times and the bad. Sixteen years ago a friend in an airport lounge told me something about my own body that I did not want to hear. That one awkward moment changed a lot for me. That was the beginning of what is now Prostate Paladin. Carlos had a whole family in the room. Some men do not have one person. So here is my question for you today. Who is in your room? And whose room are you standing in? If there is a man in your life you have been meaning to nudge, this is your reminder. And if you are the man - tell someone. You do not have to carry it quietly. Tell me one person you are going to talk to this week. Put their name (or just "my dad", "my husband") in the comments. That is all. https://www.skool.com/prostate-paladin-4886/about

I saw a picture of an ostrich with its head in the sand this week and it made me think. We all know the image. The ostrich hides its head so it cannot see the danger. And we laugh, because the danger is obviously still there. The ostrich with its head in the sand still gets eaten. Then I remembered that is exactly what I did for years. I was getting up all night. My stream had slowed right down. Somewhere in the back of my head I knew something was going on, and I just... did not look at it. Head in the sand. If I did not think about it, it was not real. It took a friend in an airport telling me straight before I pulled my head up. I think a lot of us do this. Not because we are stupid. Because looking feels harder than not looking. So I am curious about this group. What is the thing you kept your head in the sand about - prostate or otherwise - until something or someone made you look? And what got you to finally look? https://www.skool.com/prostate-paladin-4886/about

A lot of men have started getting checked lately, partly because of the Clarkson news. That is exactly what we want. But a new warning caught my eye and I think it matters for the men and families here. Home prostate test kits are selling fast. Yes they are available. Twenty or thirty dollars, a finger prick, a drop of blood, an answer at the kitchen table. The trouble is the answer cannot be trusted on its own. In a quick study done by the BBC - they tested five of these kits and got five different results - one gave nothing, three said negative, one said high. Here is what worries me most. A man gets a negative card, feels relieved, and never books the real PSA test. That is false reassurance. He thinks he checked. He did not. The full story is in the comments. A PSA number only means something when a doctor reads it next to your age and your history. I am not a doctor, but I know the difference between doing something and doing the thing that counts. Has anyone here used one of these home kits, or known someone who has? I would like to know what the result said - and whether it sent you to the doctor or kept you home. https://www.skool.com/prostate-paladin-4886/about