Living Well With Advanced Prostate Cancer

Art Cain of Atlanta, Georgia, has been living with prostate cancer for four years when he met Dan George, MD, in 2019 at a meeting of the Prostate Health Education Network, a national group focusing on education and awareness for African American men with the disease.

“His reputation as an excellent medical oncologist and urologist with an emphasis in prostate cancer had proceeded him,” Cain says. “My wife and I walked up to him, and I said, ‘I have an appointment with you on Monday,’” Some friends at a support group in Atlanta had recommended that Cain consult with George.

Cain has advanced prostate cancer that has metastasized (spread) to the bone. But he is doing well with a combination of medications available through a clinical trial, as well as a bone-strengthening drug and a healthy lifestyle. Cain still works in continuing education at the University of Georgia and enjoys cooking and running.

Currently, the level of PSA (prostate specific antigen, a marker of prostate cancer) in Cain’s blood is undetectable. “I’m very happy about that,” Cain says.

“I do believe that lifestyle matters,” Cain says. He has always been a runner and ran cross-country in college. He has run marathons and half marathons. These days, he still runs in 10K events.

Cain consults with a local doctor in Atlanta but sees George regularly and considers him his primary medical oncologist.

Patients want have a relationship with their doctor and feel like the doctor cares and is doing everything they can. I feel like this is the case with Dr. George. -- Art Cain

“Patients want have a relationship with their doctor and feel like the doctor cares and is doing everything they can,” Cain says. “I feel like this is the case with Dr. George. There is some creativity that comes in, with thinking of options like the clinical trial. If you’re in a serious situation, you want someone to think about more than the standard of care.”

The clinical trial in which Cain participates (the PANTHER trial) combines two medications — abiaterone and enzalutamide — in a group of white men and a group of Black men, and examines genomic data to try to understand the race-related disparities in outcomes that are often seen in prostate cancer.

Patients can learn about clinical trials like PANTHER and other in-depth updates on new approaches in prostate and urologic cancer care at the Duke Cancer Institute Center for Prostate and Urologic Cancers educational symposium.

This free virtual event will be held November 5, 2021, 5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Registration is required. Click here to register.