The Accomplishments of PCRI

Brief History

In 1984, Stephen B. Strum MD, a medical oncologist practicing in California since 1973, was inspired by a patient with prostate cancer to collaborate with Fernand Labrie of the Laval University in Quebec City, Canada on the use of an anti-androgen, Euflex, combined with an LHRH agonist drug called D-tryp-6. These agents had not been studied in-depth in the treatment of prostate cancer. This was five years before Eulexin (Flutamide) and Lupron (Leuprolide) were given FDA approval in the United States.

This early association with Dr. Labrie in clinical research on the use of combined androgen blockade in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer led to a change in the composition of the patient population seen by Dr. Strum. By the late 1980s, approximately 20% of the patients in Dr. Strum's general medical oncology practice were prostate cancer patients. This percentage increased to 80% by 1995.

In 1994, Dr. Strum began contributing after-hour's work to help patients on the CompuServe Cancer Forum section dedicated to prostate cancer. This site gained increased activity and Dr. Strum decided that the Internet was the most promising technology to reach a larger audience. Over the ensuing years, he volunteered his services extensively on the prostate cancer forum called P2P or Patients to Physicians that he helped to create.

In 1995, Dr. Mark C. Scholz joined Dr. Strum's practice, and the entire focus of their work became treatment of prostate cancer patients. This partnership was named Healing Touch Oncology (HTO). During this time of change, the idea of a non-profit organization that could further the cause of the prostate cancer patient came into being. In July of 1996, a non-profit foundation was formed through collaborative efforts of HTO and the Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital in order to fund the Institute for Prostate Cancer Research (IPCR). IPCR was incorporated as a non-profit on Jan 27, 1997. The name was changed to the Prostate Cancer Research Institute (PCRI) on March 12, 1998.

Drs. Strum and Scholz were hopeful that an organization combining insightful clinical research with high-level educational activities, directed to both the patient and the physician, would greatly enhance outcomes for prostate cancer patients everywhere. In this vein, HTO had already embarked on leading edge clinical work. In fact much of this work had been initiated by Dr. Strum beginning back in 1984 and had been further developed over the ensuing years. This is supported by the publications on prostate cancer pre-dating the creation of PCRI. Educational activities were stepped up in December 1997, with two full-time Educational Facilitators, Jonathan McDermed, PharmD, and Harry Pinchot, a prostate cancer patient. Early activities included working with various prostate cancer support groups and providing a helpline for people dealing with prostate cancer. Drs. Strum and Scholz worked after hours to contribute their professional skills in the realm of leading edge work on prostate cancer. In addition, they shared this information via lectures and published material, thus combining the findings of their clinical research with those of others with the goal of educating patient-physician teams to optimize the outcomes of patients.

Dr. Strum served as the Medical Director of PCRI until June of 2002. During that period, PCRI expanded the Helpline, initiated a Web site and newsletter, and produced several national and regional conferences. Since his resignation, PCRI has focused the bulk of its energy on providing prostate cancer education to individuals dealing with the disease.

Our Mission

The Prostate Cancer Research Institute mission is to improve the quality of men’s lives by supporting research and disseminating information that educates and empowers patients, families and the medical community.

Clinical Research from PCRI

PCRI has been involved in major inroads in prostate cancer therapy, inroads that have a direct effect on the quality as well as the length of life for men with prostate cancer. Areas of involvement include:

• Bone Integrity Affects the Natural History of Prostate Cancer
   
• Androgen Deprivation Syndrome (ADS)
   
• Anemia Associated With Androgen Deprivation (AAAD)
   
• Procrit (Erythropoietin) Corrects the Anemia of Androgen Deprivation
   
• Viagra (Sildenafil) Restores Erectile Ability in Men on ADT
   
• Intermittent Androgen Deprivation (IAD)
   
• Early Use of Nizoral Prolongs Response Time
   
• Importance of Bone Marrow Support in Patients on Chemotherapy for Prostate Cancer

Publications with Full References

PCRI has produced many publications representing years of combined patient care coupled with clinical observation and medical writing. This achievement, in the setting of a non-profit organization that has been essentially funded by patients, is a highly unusual achievement.

Educational Activities of PCRI

A. PCRI Helpline

The PCRI Helpline is unique in the way it interacts with callers seeking help in understanding and dealing with this disease. The "callers" include men with prostate cancer, their families and friends, or physicians. The overwhelming majority of the Helpline interactions, which reaches fifty phone calls, emails or faxes per day, pertain to education for a prostate cancer patient. The Helpline staff person (i.e. "Facilitator") works with the caller to extract vital medical information, which is essential to assess the nature and extent of the disease so that they can provide information that is both accurate and relevant to the caller's situation. In such a manner, they "facilitate" the patient's communication with his physicians to obtain a successful outcome. The Helpline Facilitators provide medical information but do not give medical advice.

PCRI Facilitators have been intensely trained about prostate cancer by the Dr. Strum and other PCRI Medical Advisors. They have also spent countless hours reviewing PCRI educational materials. They have access to a Board of Medical Advisors to obtain ideas and information pertinent to an individual situation. The Helpline staff reviews medical articles from The Journal of Urology, Urology, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, The Oncologist and Cancer to stay current with the latest developments in prostate cancer research and treatment. Moreover, educational group emails are sent to PCRI staff to highlight important concepts. Further, each Helpline Facilitator does continual additional research as needed to stay abreast of current developments.

There is no other prostate cancer education and research organization performing this function with a Board of Medical Advisors, trained in the specialty of prostate cancer, constantly educating and evaluating its Helpline staff.

B. PCRI Insights

Insights is a sophisticated quarterly newsletter directed at an empowered prostate cancer community. The first issue of Insights was published in October of 1998. In this and subsequent issues new developments in the evaluation and treatment of prostate cancer have been introduced with highly focused reviews and outstanding graphics. Insights is being sent to more than 20,000 individuals, including prostate cancer patients, their families and friends. In addition, interested urologists, medical oncologists, and radiation oncologists who are members of the American Urologic Association, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Society for Therapeutic Radiation Oncologists, respectively, receive Insights on a complimentary basis. Insights subscribers are located in the United States, Canada and many countries around the world.

C. PCRI Lectures

PCRI has presented over 150 lectures on a wide variety of prostate cancer topics to conferences and support groups. The PowerPoint slides for many of these are available for viewing on the Web site.

D. PCRI Conferences

Since its inception, PCRI has been instrumental in the planning and presentation of national and regional conferences that have attracted audiences as large as 1500. The conferences have provided patients and their caregivers with the latest information on diagnosis and treatment along with ways to deal with all aspects of prostate cancer. They have included lectures from many of the leading physicians and scientists in the field. Additionally, most of the presentations were captured on videos and are available for purchase. These have provided the basis for programs at hundreds of support group meetings. These fantastic experiences have been made possible by a number of generous sponsors and a legion of dedicated volunteers.

E. The PCRI Web Site

The PCRI Web site at www.prostate-cancer.org or www.pcri.org was created in 1998 and currently averages over 100,000 page views per month. The Web site contains a wealth of information that includes papers published by Drs. Strum and Scholz as well as the medical articles by other leading prostate cancer specialists that have appeared in Insights. All issues of Insights may be downloaded for viewing and/or printing, and Software Programs designed by Dr. Glenn Tisman facilitate evaluation and prognosis of the individual patient. The Web site makes available over 30 PowerPoint presentations, the results of hundreds of hours of work. PCRI was one of the first prostate cancer resource organizations to use Webcasting as an educational tool.

In addition, the site has the following new or enhanced features:

• an interactive Glossary that is probably the most comprehensive of its kind for prostate cancer patients.
   
• a Forms section that describes the objectives of each part of the medical record and allows free downloads of sample forms that focus on specific areas of information that is exchanged between patient and doctor.
   
• an extensive Resources section which provides links to tools of empowerment
   
• articles from Insights that have been converted for online viewing with medical terms hyperlinked to the Glossary definition.
   
• an internal search function utilizing the Google™ search engine
   
• a Spanish language section containing the translations of key papers
   
• an Events section that lists major upcoming events that relate to prostate cancer

On the home page of the Web site is a link to a Pamphlet entitled "What You Should Know About PC", now in its second edition. PCRI has created and sent out over 100,000 copies of this pamphlet, which details what active roles you can take in the prevention and early detection of prostate cancer. This publication is also available in Spanish. We also find this to be a valuable resource for family members of men with prostate cancer and for women with breast cancer due to the genetic links between the two diseases and the genetic factors relating to transmission of prostate cancer to family members.

The Prostate Cancer Research Institute
PCRI is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit education and research organization that advances awareness and monitoring of ever-expanding and evolving treatments available to improve outcomes for prostate cancer patients. The Federal Tax ID # is 95-4617875 and qualifies for maximum charitable gift deductions by individual donors.

5777 W. Century Blvd. Suite 800 Los Angeles, California 90045 Telephone (310) 743-2116 Fax (310) 743-2113 Helpline (310) 743-2110 or (800) 641-PCRI

Prostate Cancer Research Institute (PCRI)
 

Material provided by PCRI is intended for educational purposes for discussion with your physician and should not be considered as medical advice. Information and opinions expressed on this website are not an endorsement by PCRI for any treatment, product or service.