Following a procedure to reduce an enlarged prostate, King Charles III, 75, was diagnosed with “a form of cancer” and is stepping down from public duties while he undergoes treatment. What do you think?
“I’m shocked. He’s always been the picture of health and vigor.”
Andrea Byrd, Shoe Rehabilitator
“Has his next of kin been gleefully notified?”
Marco Sharp, Yam Salesman
“Can I wear his crown while he’s sick?”
Bryson Finnegan, Dictionary Auditor
Doctors have detected cancer in Britain’s King Charles III, Buckingham Palace said in a statement Monday. The unspecified cancer was discovered as doctors treated the monarch for an enlarged prostate just over a week ago. It is understood that the king has been diagnosed with cancer elsewhere in his body, not of the prostate.
The king, 75, was discharged one week ago following treatment for enlarged prostate, which the palace said was not cancerous. During that treatment, however, a “separate issue of concern was noted. Subsequent diagnostic tests have identified a form of cancer.”
Buckingham Palace said Charles had “commenced a schedule of regular treatments,” and that during that treatment he would “postpone public-facing duties.” It said he would continue with his official business and office work as usual.
“The King is grateful to his medical team for their swift intervention, which was made possible thanks to his recent hospital procedure. He remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible,” the statement said, adding that the monarch had “chosen to share his diagnosis to prevent speculation and in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer.”
Charles was crowned last year after inheriting the monarchy upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. His health is generally understood to have been good. He had a non-cancerous growth removed from his face in 2008, according to The Associated Press.
Charles was admitted a couple weeks ago for the prostate treatment to the same private London clinic where his daughter-in-law, Kate, the Princess of Wales, underwent an unspecified abdominal surgery. She was also back at home in Windsor and was said to be recovering well as of Jan. 29.
Kate’s husband William, the Prince of Wales, who is next in line to inherit the throne after his father the king, is expected to return to his royal duties this week after taking some time off to support his wife following her surgery, according to Kensington Palace, William and Kate’s official residence.
The king’s younger son, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, moved to the U.S. several years ago with his wife Meghan as they relinquished their roles as senior, working members of the royal family. Britain’s PA news agency, which is often first to report reliable information on the royals, cited a source close to Harry as saying Monday that the prince had spoken with his father about his diagnosis and would visit his homeland in the coming days to see him in person.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a social media post that he was “wishing His Majesty a full and speedy recovery,” and that he had no doubt Charles would “be back to full strength in no time.”
In Washington, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel gave sympathies to the royal family.
“Our thoughts are with the king and his family,” Patel told reporters during a news briefing. “That’s incredibly sad news … and I’m very sorry for the king and his family.”
Alex Sundby contributed reporting.
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WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is laying out a new set of guidelines to ensure it will be informed any time a Cabinet head can’t carry out their job after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s secret hospitalization this month was kept for days from President Joe Biden and his top aides.
The new guidelines include a half-dozen instructions for Cabinet agencies to follow when there is a “delegation of authority,” or when secretaries temporarily transfer their authority to a deputy when unreachable due to medical issues, travel or other reasons. White House chief of staff Jeff Zients launched a review of existing notification procedures earlier this month shortly after Austin’s hospitalization was disclosed, along with the Pentagon’s failure to immediately alert the White House.
“Through your submissions, you demonstrated your commitment to notifying the White House in the event of a delegation – and upon assumption of a delegation, establishing contact with the White House,” White House chief of staff Jeff Zients wrote in a memo sent to the rest of the Cabinet on Friday. The memo was obtained by The Associated Press.
Zients noted that some existing guidelines among agencies differed because of various laws, regulations and executive orders.
But “through this process we are assured that all agencies have a set of standard protocols they must follow in the event of a delegation of authority,” he wrote.
From now on, Cabinet agencies must notify the White House Office of Cabinet Affairs and Zients’ office when they’re anticipating a delegation of authority and again when the delegation actually happens. It must also put in writing that the delegation is in effect and once that delegation has ended.
Once the interim leader has assumed authority, that person must contact his or her primary counterpart at the White House and the agency must follow any other notifications that are required under law — such as informing key lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Agencies should ensure that authority is transferred when a Cabinet official is “traveling to areas with limited or no access to communication, undergoing hospitalization or a medical procedure requiring general anesthesia, or otherwise in a circumstance when he or she may be unreachable,” the memo reads.
The Pentagon said earlier this month that Austin had a prostatectomy to treat prostate cancer on Dec. 22, for which he underwent general anesthesia at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He did not tell the White House about the procedure, but he did temporarily transfer some of his authorities to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks.
Austin returned to Walter Reed on Jan. 1 after being in severe pain and was admitted to intensive care. The next day, he again transferred some authorities to Hicks, who was on vacation in Puerto Rico. In both instances, Hicks was not told why she was having authorities delegated to her.
The Pentagon did not tell the White House about Austin’s hospitalization until Jan. 4, when national security adviser Jake Sullivan was informed and in turn told Biden. The Defense Department is conducting its own review of procedures after the lack of disclosure this month, as is the Pentagon’s inspector general.
Austin returned to Walter Reed on Friday for what his doctors called a “scheduled post-prostatectomy surveillance appointment.” His prognosis is “excellent,” according to his doctors, and he has no further treatment planned for his prostate cancer aside from physical therapy and regular follow-up appointments.
An aide to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin asked first responders to avoid using lights and sirens in requesting an ambulance be sent to Austin’s northern Virginia home after he had complications from surgery for prostate cancer that he had kept secret from senior Biden administration leaders and staff.
Austin was hospitalized Jan. 1 and admitted to intensive care after developing an infection a week after undergoing surgery. He was released from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday.
On the Jan. 1 call to the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety, a man who identified himself as a government employee described Austin as alert. The identity of Austin and the caller were redacted from a copy of the 911 audio, which was obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act. The caller named the street on which Austin lives.
In the four-minute call, the reason for needing the ambulance also was redacted. The caller said Austin was not having chest pains.
“Can I ask, like, can the ambulance not show up with lights and sirens? Um, we’re trying to remain a little subtle,” the aide said, according to the recording.
A dispatcher responded that the ambulance would comply once it got near the home.
“Usually when they turn into a residential neighborhood, they’ll turn them off,” the dispatcher said, adding that emergency sirens and lights are required by law on major roads when ambulances are responding to a call.
Austin was located on the ground floor of the residence, said the aide, who indicated he would be waiting outside for the ambulance.
The caller asked how long it would take to get to the home. The dispatcher said it depended on traffic and road conditions and said first responders would be arriving from the closest available station.
Details of the 911 audio file from the Fairfax County Public Safety Department were first reported by The Daily Beast.
As he recovers, Austin will be working from home. His doctors said he “progressed well throughout his stay and his strength is rebounding.” They said in a statement the cancer was treated early and his prognosis is “excellent.”
Austin, 70, was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Dec. 22 and underwent surgery to treat the cancer, which was detected earlier in the month during a routine screening.
Dr. John Maddox, the trauma medical director, and Dr. Gregory Chesnut, the director of the Center for Prostate Disease Research at Walter Reed, said that during Austin’s hospitalization he underwent medical tests and was treated for lingering leg pain. They said he has physical therapy to do but there are no plans for further cancer treatment other than regular checks.
President Joe Biden and senior administration officials were not told about Austin’s hospitalization until Jan. 4, and Austin kept the cancer diagnosis secret until Jan. 9. Biden has said Austin’s failure to tell him about the hospitalization was a lapse in judgment, but the Democratic president insists he still has confidence in his Pentagon chief.
During Austin’s time at Walter Reed, the U.S. launched a series of military strikes late last week on the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, targeting dozens of locations linked to their campaign of assaults on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Working from his hospital bed, Austin juggled calls with senior military leaders, including Gen. Erik Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, and White House meetings to review, order and ultimately watch the strikes unfold over secure video.
The lack of transparency about Austin’s hospitalization, however, has triggered administration and Defense Department reviews on the procedures for notifying the White House and others if a Cabinet member must transfer decision-making authorities to a deputy, as Austin did during his initial surgery and a portion of his latest hospital stay. And the White House chief of staff ordered Cabinet members to notify his office if they ever can’t perform their duties.
Austin’s secrecy also drew criticism from Congress members on both sides of the political aisle, and Rep. Mike Rogers, an Alabama Republican who is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he has opened a formal inquiry into the matter. Others openly called for Austin to resign, but the White House has said the Pentagon chief’s job is safe.
It is still unclear when Austin will return to his office in the Pentagon or how his cancer treatment will affect his job, travel and other public engagements going forward. Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks has been taking on some of his day-to-day duties as he recovers.
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Follow the AP’s coverage of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at https://apnews.com/hub/lloyd-austin.
About 13 out of 100 men are struck with prostate cancer over the course of their life. More than 95 out of 100 (more than 95%) will survive their cancer for 1 year or more. more than 85 out of 100 (more than 85%) will survive their cancer for 5 years or more. Almost 80 out of 100 (almost 80%) will survive their cancer for 10 years or more. Science and data have made clear marijuana has some medical benefits. More research needs to be done, but cannabis has been used as medicine for a 1,000 years.
RELATED: What Is Your Marijuana Use Doing To Your Penis?
Studies of the chemicals (or cannabinoids) found in the marijuana plant suggest certain cannabinoids can be helpful in treating nausea and vomiting from cancer chemotherapy, as well as in treating neuropathic pain (pain caused by damaged nerves). The U.S Food and Drug Administrationexternal. (FDA) has approved two specific drugs (dronabinol [name brands Marinol and Syndros] and nabilone [name brand Cesamet]) that are synthetic (man-made) forms of specific cannabinoids for use in cancer patients with chemotherapy-associated nausea and vomiting.
Cannabis may help treat prostate cancer. Some studies have looked at the effect of chemicals in cannabis, on prostate cancer cells. There are two main cannabinoids that have been investigated – THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol). The studies found that cannabinoids may stop prostate cancer cells from growing and dividing, cause prostate cancer cells to die, and stop prostate cancer cells from invading other tissues and spreading. But these studies have only looked at prostate cancer cells grown in laboratories or in mice. To understand
RELATED: Marijuana And Sex: How Much Weed Is Too Much?
Another study demonstrated that cannabidiol is a viable therapy to treat prostate cancer cells, in combination with silencing of RBBP6. This suggests that cannabidiol rather cannabis sativa extract may play an important role in reducing cancer progression.
More research need to be done to find the best path cannabis can help in the treatment of prostate cancer. Meanwhile, be aware of the early warning sign including trouble urinating or decreased force of stream, blood in the urine or semen, bone pain, unexpected weight loss, and unexplained fevers. If you consistently notice any of these symptoms, you should see your doctor as soon as possible.
Terry Hacienda
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WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration pledged from day one to restore truth and transparency to the federal government — but now it’s facing a maelstrom of criticism and credibility questions after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization was kept secret for days, even from the White House.
The controversy has prompted a government-wide review of what protocols are in place to prevent such failures and the Pentagon is scrutinizing its own procedures following the extraordinary lapse, which left even Austin’s top deputies unaware of his condition for days. Senior congressional Republicans are investigating whether Austin ignored legal requirements to inform Congress, and Biden administration officials are privately fuming about Austin’s lack of disclosure, believing it to be an unforced error that undercuts the president’s message of restoring competency through his administration.
The prolonged focus on a senior official’s medical secrecy is also shedding an unwelcome spotlight on Biden’s own health, which already was under scrutiny as the oldest president in history seeks another term and faces regular questions and concerns from voters about his age. Combined, the questions over transparency and health have put the White House on the defensive for days as the election year opens and have given ammunition to Biden political opponents who question whether his administration is living up to its pledges of competency.
The Pentagon disclosed Tuesday afternoon, after days of silence on Austin’s medical diagnosis, that the secretary has prostate cancer. Austin, 70, was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Dec. 22 and underwent surgery to treat the disease, but developed a urinary tract infection a week later and was admitted into intensive care. He remained hospitalized Tuesday.
Austin was diagnosed with prostate cancer during a routine screening in early December, but the White House insisted that no one there, including Biden, knew about the diagnosis until Tuesday.
“I think we all recognize — and I think the Pentagon has been very, very honest with themselves — about the challenge to credibility by what has transpired here, and by how hard it was for them to be fully transparent with the American people,” John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, said Tuesday. “We all recognize that this didn’t unfold the way it should have — on so many levels.”
There is no government-wide policy in the Biden administration on how absences of Cabinet officials should be handled, according to people familiar with the matter, although there is a general expectation that the White House should be made aware of such circumstances. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss government practices.
While there is no statutory requirement for public officials to disclose their medical histories, it has become common practice for presidential and vice presidential candidates and incumbents to do so. Many choose to share more about their health than a private citizen would.
Other top figures, though, have opted to remain cagey about their health, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell after recent incidents in which he froze up, and the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who delayed revealing the recurrence of pancreatic cancer or the seriousness of her condition before her death weeks ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
Disclosures to the public about a Cabinet official’s absence have varied between federal agencies. For instance, the Justice Department in 2022 announced that Attorney General Merrick Garland would undergo surgery to remove enlarged prostate tissue a week in advance of his procedure.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg cleared his parental leave with the White House after he and his husband adopted twins in 2021, but the leave was not disclosed publicly until he had returned to work.
Multiple current and former officials said White Houses generally aim to keep closer tabs on the whereabouts of the secretaries of state and defense due to their prominent positions in the line of presidential succession, and particularly in the case of the Pentagon.
Cedric Leighton, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, noted that the chain of command for the U.S. military runs from the president through his defense secretary to the combatant commanders, who then execute orders that could include command and control of any potential use of nuclear weapons.
He said it was “imperative” that the president, top administration and military officials, select members of Congress and even key allied counterparts be notified of even a temporary absence.
“It’s highly unusual for any Cabinet secretary not to notify the president, the White House chief of staff, or the NSC of any absence, especially a medical one,” he added.
White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, in a Tuesday memo to Cabinet secretaries, directed them to report back by Friday on any existing procedures for delegating authority in the event of incapacitation or loss of communication. He also is requiring agencies to provide notice if an agency expects a circumstance in which a Cabinet head can’t perform his or her duties.
The matter is expected to be discussed at a previously scheduled meeting Wednesday with Zients and Cabinet members, according to a person familiar with the plans granted anonymity to speak about a private gathering.
The White House also reiterated this week that it is committed to releasing medical information about Biden promptly.
Biden last underwent a physical in February 2023, when his doctor declared him to be “healthy, vigorous” and “fit.” A skin lesion removed from his chest was later found to be a basal cell carcinoma, among the most common and easily treated forms of cancer.
Biden transferred power to Vice President Kamala Harris for one hour and 25 minutes in 2021 when he was under anesthesia during a routine colonoscopy. The White House provided advance notice that he was undergoing the procedure, but waited until Biden awoke before saying precisely when he was unconscious.
The president last year began using a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machine at night to help with sleep apnea. His use of the machine was only disclosed to the public after journalists spotted telltale indents on his face from the CPAP mask.
Biden’s sleep apnea diagnosis was first revealed in medical reports in 2008, but it did not appear in medical write-ups of the physical he took when he ran for the White House in 2020, or of the two physicals he underwent since taking office in 2021.
The Austin incident has sparked bipartisan criticism from lawmakers who have numerous questions about how his condition could have been kept secret from the White House, Capitol Hill and the public.
Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Tuesday that Austin’s lack of disclosure to key lawmakers about his condition and transferring of duties to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks was a “clear violation of the law.” Congress was not told until Friday afternoon of Austin’s hospitalization, the Pentagon has said, a day after Biden and national security adviser Jake Sullivan were informed.
Wicker’s aides said a federal law governing vacancies requires Congress to be informed immediately if a Senate-confirmed official dies, resigns or is otherwise unable to carry out the duties of the office. A March 1999 opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel said the requirement could apply to sickness in such circumstances.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he was not satisfied with the Pentagon’s explanations so far and called for the Senate Armed Services Committee to look into the matter, potentially with a hearing.
“He owes Congress and the American people additional facts to ensure us that he can continue to serve,” Blumenthal said.
In the House, Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers on Tuesday sent letters to Austin, Hicks and Kelly Magsamen, Austin’s chief of staff, demanding a detailed accounting of what transpired regarding notification and operational impacts during the secretary’s hospitalization.
“Someone has to resign or be fired,” said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., an Army veteran. “Maybe there are more facts to come out that will shed light on who exactly is responsible besides the secretary, but to show such a breakdown in communication and poor judgment in such a simple matter really raises questions about judgment in much bigger matters.”
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Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON — Lawrence L. Knutson, a longtime Associated Press writer whose deep knowledge of the presidency, Congress and American history made him an institution in his own right, has died. He was 87.
Knutson, who had prostate cancer and other health problems, died Saturday night in hospice care at a memory care facility in Washington, said his cousin, Katherine Knutson Garrett, who had recently been managing his affairs.
Knutson’s AP career spanned 37 years and the terms of eight presidents before his retirement in 2003.
In that time, he established himself as an expert on Washington — “a city of inspiration and spite, of spring bloom and eternal ambition, a low-rise marble capital that tourists honor and critics malign,” he wrote. He seemed to carry the soul of the place with him, as soulless as that place could seem to be to some.
Born in Chicago, Lawrence Lauder Knutson was raised in Milwaukee and rural Wisconsin before he interrupted his university studies to enlist in the Army. He was sent to a U.S. base outside Bordeaux, France, where he produced the base newspaper and wondered “what journalism would be like if you did it for real.”
He worked for the City News Bureau of Chicago after the Army and university, then the Chicago Tribune before the AP hired him in 1965. The next year, he was mere feet away, covering an open-housing march led by Martin Luther King Jr., when a rock hurled from hostile bystanders struck King on the head, knocking him to one knee.
“He recovered, and surrounded by aides, led about 700 people through hostile crowds numbering in the thousands,” Knutson recalled. Knutson transferred to Washington in 1967.
Colleagues remember Knutson as an elegant writer on the transcendent events of his time. He was always quick to give acquaintances tours of Congress more intimate than the official tour guides put on. He also had his eccentricities.
“Sitting beside Larry in the Senate Press Gallery for many years, I always admired his quick grasp of a story, his writing and his love of Congress as an institution,” said former AP writer Jim Luther. “And who doesn’t take notes on a checkbook or use a paper clip to hold his glasses together?”
The story is legion of Knutson sleeping in late when in New York to cover a 1986 whistle-stop train tour by Jimmy Carter and presidential running mate Walter Mondale to New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Missing the train, Knutson took a succession of cabs from city to city, racking up a substantial bill only to find the train gone when he got to each stop.
In a line of work that is relentlessly focused on the moment, Knutson was also one to look back, reaching for lessons of history that informed the present.
“Larry was indeed deeply knowledgeable about Congress and Washington politics,” said Sandy Johnson, a former AP Washington bureau chief. “But what I remember most vividly is his interest in history, which translated into a column we called Washington Yesterday. His insightful and delightful writing about Washington history was an antidote to the gravity and infighting of the usual capital news — and his columns always made me smile.”
There was his story about presidential portraits: “George Washington came to the presidency under siege by artists who saw his character and their fortunes in the contours of his face. The American Revolution’s commander in chief found persistent artists more irritating than the crack of British muskets; the lengthy sittings portrait painters required were, he said, mind-numbing wastes of fleeting time.”
And this, in the age of Bill (“Slick Willie”) Clinton: “A nickname, says the proverb, is ‘the heaviest stone the devil can throw at a man.’ Some wound and leave scars. Some stick like burrs. Others fall away and are forgotten.
“American presidents have attracted and endured nicknames ever since George Washington was called the ‘Sword of the Revolution,’ Father of His Country,’ the ‘Sage of Mount Vernon’ and, interestingly, ‘The Old Fox.’”
After his retirement, Knutson wrote a book about presidential vacations and retreats, “Away from the White House,” published by the White House Historical Association.
Knutson will be buried in a small cemetery in City Point, Wisconsin, where many family members are interred, his cousin said. No details were immediately released on a memorial service or his survivors.
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Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.
BALTIMORE — A federal judge has denied a compassionate release request filed by a former Baltimore police officer convicted in 2018 as part of the department’s Gun Trace Task Force corruption scandal.
Daniel Hersl, the oldest member of the deeply corrupt and now-disbanded Baltimore police unit, was sentenced to 18 years behind bars after a jury found him guilty of racketeering and robbery.
Last month, he filed the request for release, saying he was recently diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer that has spread to his lymph nodes, liver, lungs and more. He said a prison doctor concluded he has less than 18 months to live, and asked for home detention.
Hersl, 53, was one of eight indicted members of the once-lauded Gun Trace Task Force, which was created to get illegal guns off the streets of a city plagued by violent crime. But instead, members robbed drug dealers, planted narcotics and firearms on innocent people and assaulted random civilians. More than a dozen officers have been convicted in the scandal since 2017. Hundreds of cases that hinged on their testimony were later dropped.
Prosecutors said Hersl “devalued” people he dealt with as an officer and “abused his power to prey on them.” They said he also ripped off taxpayers by committing rampant overtime fraud, including an entire month that he spent refurbishing his house while on the clock.
In his order Monday denying Hersl’s request, U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III noted the seriousness of the ex-detective’s crimes, saying they “irreparably damaged … the reputation of the Baltimore City Police Department and all of the many law abiding public servants therein.”
“A message certainly needs to be sent that if you commit criminal conduct or otherwise engage in a racketeering conspiracy you will be held accountable and punished,” Russell wrote.
In a last-minute court filing Monday, Hersl’s attorney, William Purpura, quoted recent emails from Hersl in which he complains of “constant pain” and says he hopes to “make the trip home to spend time with my son & family before my days are done.”
Russell said the federal Bureau of Prisons will continue to manage Hersl’s medical care and allow him visits with his family during his ongoing incarceration.
Queen Stewart, a lawyer and mother of two, learned she had breast cancer at age 35. She found the lump herself because she was too young for insurance-paid screenings.
“I just cried, and I just worried so much about whether I would be here for my girls,” Stewart told CBS News.
According to a new study published this week in BMJ Oncology, cancer rates worldwide have risen dramatically in people under the age of 50.
Researchers examined data from 204 countries between 1990 and 2019. They found that there were more than 3.26 million early-onset cancer cases reported in those countries in 2019, up from 1.82 million in 1990, an increase of 79.1%.
The study defined early-onset cancer as a diagnosis that occurs between the ages of 14 and 49.
The number of early-onset cancer deaths rose from about 800,000 in 1990 to 1.06 million in 2019, researchers found.
Of the 29 types of cancer that were studied, breast cancer in 2019 accounted for the most early-onset cases, 16.5%, as well as the most early-onset deaths, 12.84%.
Meanwhile, both early-onset prostate cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer showed the fastest increases in incident rates of any types of cancer over that 30-year period.
“Those numbers are remarkable,” said Dr. Christopher Flowers, an oncologist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
The study said that while genetics is a contributing factor to the increase, poor diet, alcohol and tobacco use, physical inactivity and obesity also play major roles.
“Dietary risk factors (diet high in red meat, low in fruits, high in sodium and low in milk, etc.), alcohol consumption and tobacco use are the main risk factors underlying early-onset cancers,” the study concluded.
Researchers found that the availability of medical care by region can also impact the number of cases and deaths.
“I think it’s important for younger individuals who meet screening criteria to consider and pursue screening at age-appropriate times,” Flowers said.
In the U.S., the recommended age to start colon cancer screenings was recently lowered from age 50 to 45, while the recommended age for breast cancer screenings was lowered from 50 to 40.
“Look at the importance of screening, and that really gets to the point around those screenable cancers: there’s breast cancer, colorectal cancer, cervix cancer,” Flowers said.
The study projected that early-onset cancer rates will increase 31% by 2030, while cancer deaths will rise 21%.
Meanwhile, Stewart had a double mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. She’s now in remission and says she has a new lease on life.
“It had me create a sense of urgency in my life to live now, to find joy, to be more present for my family,” Stewart said.
September is prostate cancer awareness month, so the American College of Surgeons is teaming up with their urologist colleagues to promote better prevention for men at risk for this growing category of cases. A recent report from the American Cancer Society detailed the alarming increase in rates of late-diagnosed cases. With that in mind, this panel will address proper screening and prevention and discuss the higher risks for minority groups, reluctance to discuss the issue, and advice for both patients and practitioners.
What: Expert panel from the American College of Surgeons will address proper screening and prevention of prostate cancer
When: September 11, 2023, at 12 PM EDT
Who: Panelists to be announced
Where: Newswise Live Events Zoom Room (link will be given once you register)
Details:
A recent report from the American Cancer Society detailed the alarming increase in rates of late-diagnosed cases of prostate cancer. With Prostate Cancer Awareness month in September, this panel will address proper screening and prevention and discuss the higher risks for minority groups, reluctance to discuss the issue, and advice for both patients and practitioners.
Media register to attend and/or receive transcript and video
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An immigrant cook building a new life. A widow preparing to say goodbye. And a couple taking their vows.
All were caught in the crossfire, forced to flee as flames swallowed parts of Maui, that drop in the Pacific where roads wind past waterfalls, turtles glide through gem-blue waters and a volcano towers overhead.
These are the stories of the survivors:
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By the time Marlon Vasquez heard the alarms, there was only time to run.
The 31-year-old cook shouted for his brother and opened the door of their Lahaina rental home to thick smoke and intense heat.
“The fire was almost on top of us,” he said.
The two sprinted. And, running on for what felt like an eternity, a hellscape unfurled. Day turned to night as smoke blotted out the sun, occasionally bared as a red orb. Roads clogged with cars. People dove into the Pacific. At one point, the flames chased him as strong winds blew them down a mountainside. The air was so black he vomited.
“We ran and ran. We ran almost the whole night and into the next day because the fire didn’t stop,” Vasquez said.
The brothers kept running down the coast until they came upon a motorist who drove them to a shelter where they joined about 200 others in a gymnasium.
The restaurant Vasquez worked at was destroyed. He only managed to grab his passport, wallet, a few bottles of water and a can of sardines.
He arrived in the U.S. from Guatemala at the start of 2022. Now, his car and everything he worked for has been torched.
He isn’t sure if the roommates he and his brother lived with made it out. He wonders about the people they passed who were unable to run as they did. He doesn’t know where they will go next. They will look for work in whatever state or country that has jobs for them.
There seemed to be only one certainty for Vasquez.
“We’ll keep struggling,” he said.
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Tracey Graham was due to spend her last week on Maui snorkeling with sea turtles, dining with friends, and reminiscing about the eight years she called the “beautiful, wonderful piece of paradise” home.
Instead, she fled the fires, is sleeping in a shelter and wondering what became of the places she loved.
“It’s scary,” says 61-year-old Graham. “It’s devastating — that’s the only word I keep coming back to.”
Graham, who was staying with a friend north of Lahaina, was about to take an afternoon nap Tuesday when she noticed the smell. She went outside, saw flames and smoke, and heard popping noises.
She fled with friends, grabbing her passport, her journal and a framed photo with a button that played a recording of her husband, Cole Wright, telling her how much he loved her.
He died of prostate cancer four months ago.
Authorities kept directing her and her friends to different points. Once she made it to the shelter set up at the Maui War Memorial, rumors of the devastation raged, with many unsure whether their homes and loved ones were safe. She hasn’t been able to reach one of her close friends.
“It’s disorienting,” she says. “You just don’t know what’s what.”
Graham is departing Saturday to start a new life in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Her plan was already made after her husband’s death, but the tragedy of the wildfires cemented the need to leave.
“It’s just been too sad,” she says.
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It wasn’t exactly how Cindy and Bob Curler envisioned their wedding night.
Unable to get back to their Lahaina hotel Tuesday as wildfires swallowed the town, their driver was forced to take them to the garage where he parks his limousine. The newlyweds shared a couch for the night, her in her strapless lace gown, him in his crisp blue suit.
Just hours earlier, the Pittsburgh couple had strolled Lahaina’s streets, passing the 150-year-old banyan tree and popping in quaint shops.
There were hiccups as they prepared for their ceremony, but nothing that alarmed them. The power had been knocked out at Lahaina Shores Beach Resort, where they were staying, and they could see flames in the mountains. Winds were “hellacious,” 46-year-old Bob said, but flames did not appear close.
The two heard no warnings, so they pressed forward with their elopement plans, driving south to a beach just past Wailea, where they exchanged vows under perfect blue skies. There was still no word of disaster, so they celebrated with a dinner at a nearby resort.
“We didn’t know that the town was burning,” Bob said.
Their driver tried to get them back to Lahaina, but roads were choked with traffic. Inching along, seeing fire spreading by the highway, they changed course, heading for the garage at 2 a.m.
It wasn’t until morning that they saw photos of Lahaina’s destruction and realized they were blessed to have escaped. Their hotel appears to have been spared the worst, but they haven’t been able to return. They know it’s nothing compared to the losses others are suffering.
“Yes it was our wedding day and night but that’s only one night for us,” Cindy said. “These people are impacted for the rest of their lives”
___
Associated Press writers Andrew Selsky in Bend, Oregon, and Beatrice Dupuy in New York contributed to this report.
Researchers have found long-term evidence that actively monitoring localized prostate cancer is a safe alternative to immediate surgery or radiation.
The results, released Saturday, are encouraging for men who want to avoid treatment-related sexual and incontinence problems, said Dr. Stacy Loeb, a prostate cancer specialist at NYU Langone Health who was not involved in the research.
The study directly compared the three approaches — surgery to remove tumors, radiation treatment and monitoring. Most prostate cancer grows slowly, so it takes many years to look at the disease’s outcomes.
“There was no difference in prostate cancer mortality at 15 years between the groups,” Loeb said. And prostate cancer survival for all three groups was high — 97% regardless of treatment approach. “That’s also very good news.”
The results were published Saturday in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at a European Association of Urology conference in Milan, Italy. Britain’s National Institute for Health and Care Research paid for the research.
Men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer shouldn’t panic or rush treatment decisions, said lead author Dr. Freddie Hamdy of the University of Oxford. Instead, they should “consider carefully the possible benefits and harms caused by the treatment options.”
A small number of men with high-risk or more advanced disease do need urgent treatments, he added.
Researchers followed more than 1,600 U.K. men who agreed to be randomly assigned to get surgery, radiation or active monitoring. The patients’ cancer was confined to the prostate, a walnut-sized gland that’s part of the reproductive system. Men in the monitoring group had regular blood tests and some went on to have surgery or radiation.
Death from prostate cancer occurred in 3.1% of the active-monitoring group, 2.2% in the surgery group, and 2.9% in the radiation group, differences considered statistically insignificant.
At 15 years, cancer had spread in 9.4% of the active-monitoring group, 4.7% of the surgery group and 5% of the radiation group. The study was started in 1999, and experts said today’s monitoring practices are better, with MRI imaging and gene tests guiding decisions.
“We have more ways now to help catch that the disease is progressing before it spreads,” Loeb said. In the U.S., about 60% of low-risk patients choose monitoring, now called active surveillance.
Hamdy said the researchers had seen the difference in cancer spread at 10 years and expected it to make a difference in survival at 15 years, “but it did not.” He said spread alone doesn’t predict prostate cancer death.
“This is a new and interesting finding, useful for men when they make decisions about treatments,” he said.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
March 9, 2023 – Every now and then, new research comes along that questions the normal standard of care in medicine. In this case, a study out of Germany raises a concern about the value of digital rectal examinations for detecting prostate cancer, particularly in its early stages.
Investigators enrolled 46,495 men screened for prostate cancer at age 45 in the PROBASE trial between 2014 and 2019. Half of the men were offered a digital rectal exam, or DRE, where a health care professional uses a finger to check their prostate gland for any lumps or unusual swelling, followed by a prostate-specific antigen blood test 5 years later at age 50. The other half were offered only the PSA test at age 45.
Lead investigator Agne Krilaviciute, PhD, and colleagues found the PSA test detected four times as many cases of early prostate cancer as a digital rectal exam alone.
“One of the main reasons for screening for prostate cancer is to detect it in patients as early as possible,” Krilaviciute, a researcher at the German Cancer Research Center, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, in Heidelberg, said in a news release. “Our study suggests that the DRE is simply not sensitive enough to detect those early stage cancers.”
The researchers suggest other tools be used to screen men for prostate cancer, such as PSA testing and MRI scans, instead of digital rectal exams. The findings were presented at the European Association of Urology Annual Congress in Milan.
Of the 23,194 people enrolled in the delayed PSA group, 6,537 had a rectal exam. Within this group, 57 had suspicious findings and had a biopsy. Three of them were diagnosed with prostate cancer.
“We speculate in our paper that not only is the DRE not useful for detecting cancer, but it may also be one reason why people don’t come to screening visits – the examination probably puts a lot of men off,” Krilaviciute said. “In Germany, for example, the participation rate is less than 20% in the screening program for men 45 to 50 years. If we were to offer PSA testing instead, more of them might be willing to come.”
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Feb. 16, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Following a healthy plant-based diet after a diagnosis of prostate cancer may help prevent the disease from progressing or recurring, a new study suggests.
Men who ate a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains had a 52% lower risk of cancer progressing and a 53% lower risk of recurrence, compared with men who had the lowest amounts of plants in their diet, the researchers found.
“Progressing to advanced disease is one of many pivotal concerns among patients with prostate cancer, their family and caregivers and their physicians,” said lead researcher Vivian Liu, a clinical research coordinator at the Osher Center for Integrative Health at the University of California, San Francisco.
“These findings may directly inform clinical care by providing diet recommendations as guidance for managing their health and reducing morbidity for the most common cancer facing U.S. men, in addition to having other positive health benefits for preventing other chronic diseases,” Liu said.
A plant-based diet may have these benefits because fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants and anti-inflammatory components, as well as dietary fiber that improve glucose control and reduce inflammation, she explained.
Also, this diet reduces potentially harmful exposures to animal-based foods, such as hormones and heterocyclic amines created during high-temperature cooking, which have been linked to prostate cancer in particular, Liu said.
Diets high in animal protein may also increase insulin resistance, while milk and dairy may increase levels of the growth factor IGF1, which has been associated with prostate cancer risk, she noted.
For the study, Liu and her colleagues used data from a study that collected information on more than 2,000 men with prostate cancer.
Over a median of seven years, the researchers found that men who reported diets that included the highest amounts of plants had a lower risk of both progression and recurrence, compared with men who ate the lowest amounts of plants. This association did not vary by age, walking pace or the severity of cancer.
“Post-diagnostic healthful plant-based diets, including vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains, may be associated with a reduction in risk of prostate cancer progression and recurrence, adding to a list of other numerous health benefits including a reduction in diabetes, cardiovascular disease and overall mortality,” Liu said.
The findings are to be presented Thursday at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, in San Francisco. Findings presented at medical meetings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Dr. Anthony D’Amico, chief of the Division of Genitourinary Radiation Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, cautioned that although the findings are promising, they can’t prove that a plant-based diet caused prostate cancer outcomes to improve, only that there is an association between the two.
Having said that, he added that there is biological evidence that plant-based diets are healthier and can boost the immune system.
“So, there’s a biological rationale for it being able to slow the risk of progression of any cancer as a result of immune surveillance,” D’Amico said. “The other side is people who eat a plant-based diet also tend to exercise, which has been shown to boost the immune system.”
A healthy lifestyle also lowers the risk of cancer recurrence and progression because patients can tolerate treatments better, are more likely to get the full treatment and are more likely to be compliant, D’Amico said.
“I don’t want to challenge these findings completely. I don’t want to poo-poo it. It’s not a bad thing to do. I just don’t want people to think that it’s proof,” D’Amico said. “I would recommend that people take the entire picture into account, that is, they exercise, they don’t smoke, they don’t drink, they eat healthy, they reduce stress — those things all can help.”
More information
The American Cancer Society has more on prostate cancer.
SOURCES: Vivian Liu, clinical research coordinator, Osher Center for Integrative Health, University of California, San Francisco; Anthony D’Amico, MD, PhD, chief, Division of Genitourinary Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston; 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, San Francisco, Feb. 16-18, 2023
By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Jan. 12, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Cancer deaths continue to decline, dropping 33% since 1991 and saving an estimated 3.8 million lives, according to the American Cancer Society’s annual statistics report.
But individual trends within that overall success story highlight the struggle to find the best ways to prevent, detect and treat cancer for all Americans, the society said.
On the positive side, the United States saw an “astounding” 65% reduction in cervical cancer rates among 20- to 24-year-old women between 2012 and 2019, a direct result of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, said Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society (ACS).
“The effort that our children went through over the last 20 years or so to go through vaccinations have actually saved lives,” Dahut said, noting that the plummeting case level “totally follows the time when HPV vaccines were produced.”
Chief executive officer Karen Knudsen added that “this is some of the first real-world evidence that HPV vaccination is likely to be effective in reducing cancer incidence and [death rates].”
Unfortunately, rates of advanced prostate cancers are on the rise, likely driven by confusion and conflict over screening guidelines, ACS officials said.
The second-leading cause of cancer death for U.S. men, prostate cancer cases rose 3% a year from 2014 through 2019 after two decades of decline, the report found.
There’s also been a 5% year-over-year increase in diagnosis of men with advanced prostate cancer, “so we are not catching these cancers early, when we have an opportunity to cure men,” Knudsen said.
Black men, in particular, are being affected by the rise in prostate cancer, according to the report.
“Black men, unfortunately, have a 70% increase in incidence of prostate cancer compared to white men and a two- to fourfold increase in prostate cancer [death rates] as related to any other ethnic group in the United States,” Knudsen said.
The nation’s leading authority on health screening, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, recommends that men between 55 and 69 years of age discuss the potential benefits and harms of prostate cancer screening with their doctor and then decide for themselves.
American Cancer Society guidelines recommend that doctors discuss screening with men at an earlier age — 40 for those with a close relative who has had prostate cancer, 45 for men at high risk, and 50 for nearly all others.
The concern is that the screening tool — the blood-based PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test — can be influenced by factors other than prostate cancer, Knudsen said. For example, inflammation of the prostate can cause a rise in PSA.
Men who undergo prostate cancer surgery or radiation therapy can wind up with lifelong side effects like impotence or incontinence. Because of this, screening guidelines have tended to be conservative.
But the science around prostate cancer detection has advanced in recent years, Dahut said.
Doctors can now put together a genetic profile that will reveal increased risk in some men. For instance, the BRCA2 gene normally associated with breast cancer “puts people at higher risk for having more aggressive prostate cancer,” Dahut said.
Imaging tools also have improved.
“MRI imaging of the prostate has really dramatically changed the way we think of actually determining if prostate cancer is likely to be there and how to go ahead and biopsy it,” Dahut said. “And there may be ways to do relatively rapid MRIs. They’re doing that actually in the U.K. right now.”
Combining family history, genetic risk factors and MRI results can help doctors weed out potential prostate cancers from cases where PSA levels have increased for other reasons, Dahut said.
Knudsen agreed.
“This is not the 1990s, where a rising PSA would trigger potentially premature strategies for prostate removal,” she said. “We have moved so far beyond that as a field.”
To address these prostate cancer trends, the ACS is launching the IMPACT initiative — Improving Mortality from Prostate Cancer Together.
It’s aimed at reversing the disparities in prostate cancer for Black men and reducing death rates overall by 2035, Knudsen said.
IMPACT will include new research programs, improved education efforts and a reconsideration of prostate cancer screening guidelines, she explained.
“With prostate cancer still sitting as the second-leading cause of cancer death, and that shift toward a diagnosis of more aggressive disease, we can no longer stand back and not act,” Knudsen said.
The Cancer Statistics 2023 report contained other pieces of good news, including an all-time high 12% five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer, up 1 percentage point from the previous year.
This is the first time since 2017 that the survival rate for pancreatic cancer has increased two consecutive years, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network noted in a statement.
There’s no standard early detection method for pancreatic cancer, which often only has vague symptoms. The disease is typically diagnosed late, once it has already spread.
“For a disease as difficult as pancreatic cancer, an annual increase of 1 percentage point is an important and encouraging milestone that shows we’re headed in the right direction and our comprehensive approach is working,” said Julie Fleshman, president and CEO of the network. “But 12% is still the lowest five-year survival rate of all major cancers so we need to build on this momentum by continuing to fund research to find an early detection strategy and better treatment options for pancreatic cancer patients.”
The findings were published online Jan. 12 in CA: A Cancer Journal For Clinicians.
More information
The American Cancer Society has more about cancer facts and statistics.
SOURCES: William Dahut, MD, chief scientific officer, American Cancer Society, Atlanta; Karen Knudsen, MBA, PhD, chief executive officer, American Cancer Society, Atlanta; Julie Fleshman, MBA, JD, president and chief executive officer, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, El Segundo, Calif.; CA: A Cancer Journal For Clinicians, Jan. 12, 2023, online
Dec. 15, 2022 — Just 14.1% of cancer cases in the United States are diagnosed through recommended screening tests, a new report says.
Instead, most cancers are found when someone seeks medical attention for something else, according to the information posted by the nonprofit research organization NORC at the University of Chicago.
“I was shocked that only 14% of cancers were detected by screening. I think, for many people, we talk so much about cancer screening that we imagine that that’s how all cancers are diagnosed. We talk about mammograms and colonoscopies all the time,” said Caroline Pearson, an author of the report and senior vice president at the organization, on CNN.
Only breast, cervical, colorectal, and lung cancer have screenings recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Of those, here are the percentages of cancers found by screening:
The report also shared information on prostate cancer, although screening for it isn’t widely recommended. The report suggests that screenings detect 77% of prostate cancers.
The information hasn’t been published in a peer-reviewed journal. It is based on 2017 data. Pearson said the numbers of cancer screenings have fallen since then because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I definitely think that the percent of cancers detected by screening would have been lower as a result of the pandemic. We know that people missed a tremendous number of recommended screenings, and we are seeing those cancers showing up at later stages in clinical settings,” Pearson said.
London
CNN
—
Andy Taylor, guitarist with British New Romantic group Duran Duran at the height of their fame, is battling stage four prostate cancer.
The band made the announcement on Saturday as they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Taylor, who did not join his former bandmates John Taylor, Simon Le Bon, Roger Taylor and Nick Rhodes at the Class of 2022 celebrations due to ongoing treatment, wrote a letter to mark the occasion.
In the note, parts of which were read out by frontman Le Bon, Taylor disclosed that he had received his diagnosis four years ago and spoke of his delight at being inducted into the hall of fame.
“There’s nothing that comes close to such recognition. You can dream about what happened to us but to experience it, on one’s own terms, as mates, was beyond incredible,” Taylor wrote in the message relayed by Le Bon.
Touching on his health issues, the 61-year-old Taylor added: “Many families have experienced the slow burn of this disease and of course, we are no different; so I speak from the perspective of a family man but with profound humility to the band, the greatest fans a group could have and this exceptional accolade.”
Taylor joined Duran Duran in April 1980 and left in 1986 to pursue a solo career. He then rejoined in 2001 for a string of successful concerts and their 2004 album “Astronaut” before quitting again in 2006.
Taylor said he was “massively disappointed” to miss the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame show, which was set to be his first time performing with the group in 16 years, and that he had “bought a new guitar” for the occasion.
“I’m so very proud of these four brothers, I’m amazed at their durability, and I’m overjoyed at accepting this award,” Taylor said. “I often doubted the day would come. I’m sure as hell glad I’m around to see the day.”
In the letter later shared in full on the band’s website, Taylor said his condition was incurable, but that he was receiving “sophisticated life-extending treatment” that had allowed him to “just rock on” until recent times when he suffered a “setback.”
“Although my current condition is not immediately life-threatening there is no cure,” he said.
According to the American Cancer Society, about one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime.
Reacting to Taylor’s health update on Saturday, Le Bon said: “It is devastating news to know and find out that a colleague… Not a colleague, a mate, a friend, one of our family is not going to be around for very long. It’s absolutely devastating. We love Andy dearly and you know, I’m not going to stand here and cry. I don’t think that would be very appropriate but that’s what I feel like.”
Duran Duran formed in 1978 and topped the US singles charts in the 1980s with their hits “The Reflex” and “A View to a Kill.”
By .
When Duran Duran was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday night, the band was missing one member: guitarist Andy Taylor.
As People reports, the reason for Taylor’s absence from the induction ceremony was made clear when his bandmates revealed that he’d been diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer, with issues surrounding his illness preventing him from travelling to the ceremony, held at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, from his home in Ibiza, Spain.
In his absence, members of the group red excerpts from a speech that Taylor had written (the full speech was later posted on the band’s website).
READ MORE:
Duran Duran Reveals Princess Diana’s Favourite Song Of Theirs (Exclusive)
“Just over four years ago, I was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer. Many families have experienced the slow burn of this disease and of course, we are no different; so I speak from the perspective of a family man but with profound humility to the band, the greatest fans a group could have and this exceptional accolade,” Taylor wrote.
“I’m truly sorry and massively disappointed I couldn’t make it. Let there be no doubt I was stoked about the whole thing, even bought a new guitar with the essential whammy! I’m so very proud of these four brothers; I’m amazed at their durability, and I’m overjoyed at accepting this award. I often doubted the day would come. I’m sure as hell glad I’m around to see the day,” he continued.
“I have the Rodgers and Edwards of doctors and medical treatment that until very recently allowed me to just rock on. Although my current condition is not immediately life-threatening, there is no cure,” Taylor shared.
“Recently I was doing okay after some very sophisticated life-extending treatment, that was until a week or so ago when I suffered a setback, and despite the exceptional efforts of my team, I had to be honest in that both physically and mentally, I would be pushing my boundaries,” he added.
“However, none of this needs to or should detract from what this band (with or without me) has achieved and sustained for 44 years. We’ve had a privileged life, we were a bit naughty but really nice, a bit shirty but very well-dressed, a bit full of ourselves because we had a lot to give. But, as I’ve said many times, when you feel that collective, instinctive, kindred spirit of creativity mixed with ambition, armed with an über cool bunch of fans, well what could possibly go wrong?”
READ MORE:
Sandra Oh And Duran Duran Team Up In Sneak Peek Of ‘Carpool Karaoke: The Series’
He concluded, “I’m truly sorry and massively disappointed I couldn’t make it. Let there be no doubt I was stoked about the whole thing, even bought a new guitar with the essential whammy! I’m so very proud of these four brothers; I’m amazed at their durability, and I’m overjoyed at accepting this award. I often doubted the day would come. I’m sure as hell glad I’m around to see the day.”
Brent Furdyk
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