Tag: 29. September 2023

Hollywood actor Ben Stiller has revealed he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014, and that an early detection test saved his life.

In a US radio interview with Howard Stern this week, Stiller shared the news, saying that despite having no family history of prostate cancer, nor being in a high-risk group, he had “mid-range aggressive cancer” at just 48 years of age. 

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As Stiller writes in a candid personal essay published online, his doctor started running “baseline” prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests from when he was 46, purely as a precaution. 

After watching his “PSA tests rise for over a year and a half, testing me every six months” Stiller says his doctor referred him to a urologist, who then did an MRI and ultimately a biopsy, which led to him being diagnosed in 2014. He had no symptoms. 

For the following three months the actor was treated before undergoing surgery to remove the tumour. In September of that year he was given the all clear, and at the time of writing  “got a test back telling me I was cancer free.” 

Stiller insists that if his doctor had waited to test him until he was 50, as the American Cancer Society recommends, “I would not have known I had a growing tumour until two years after I got treated. 

“If [Stiller’s doctor] had followed the US Preventive Services Task Force guidelines, I would have never gotten tested at all, and not have known I had cancer until it was way too late to treat successfully.” 

American medical guidelines advise men to commence testing for prostate cancer after the age of 50. But, as Stiller writes, “Taking the PSA test [early] saved my life. Literally. That’s why I am writing this now.” 

In Australia, the advice is much the same. According to Better Health, the Victorian state government health authority, “Current guidelines recommend that men over age 50, or over the age of 40 with a family history of prostate cancer.” 

There are also no government-sponsored prostate screening programs, unlike breast, bowel and cervical cancer initiatives, which citizens are sent reminders to undergo. 

However, prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia, and according to the Cancer Council, “it is estimated that one in six males will be diagnosed by the time they are 85”.

Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, told CNN that there is a viable case for delaying testing, despite Stiller’s positive and life-saving experience. 

“The tests have bad operating systems,” he said. “They sometimes miss cancer that needs to be found, and they find cancer that doesn’t need to be found.”

CNN also writes that when PSA tests offer misleading or inaccurate results, it can lead to men being unnecessarily diagnosed and treated, which has its own downsides. 

“This is a complicated issue, and an evolving one,” writes Stiller. “But in this imperfect world, I believe the best way to determine a course of action for the most treatable, yet deadly cancer, is to detect it early.” 

We look forward to seeing how this debate evolves in Australia, but in the meantime, are delighted that Stiller is healthy and nine years on, totally cancer-free. 

Imagine if there was a drug that convinced the body’s muscles they were exercising, without lifting a limb. And what if it boosted the metabolism and endurance, too?

It sounds far-fetched, doesn’t it? But scientists have found a drug that can do just that.

Researchers at the University of Florida have developed a new drug known as SLU-PP-332, which they claim does all of the above.

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In studies performed on obese mice, they found the drug tricked the animals’ bodies into thinking they were exercising more, when in fact they hadn’t changed their fitness regimens.

“This compound is basically telling skeletal muscle to make the same changes you see during endurance training,” Thomas Burris, a professor who led the research, told Eureka.

“When you treat mice with the drug, you can see that their whole body metabolism turns to using fatty acids, which is very similar to what people use when they are fasting or exercising,” Burris added. “And the animals start losing weight.”

Burris and his team medicated the mice twice a day for a month, which caused them to lose 12 per cent of their body weight. Incredibly, the mice didn’t alter their diets and didn’t exercise any more than usual.

“They use more energy just living,” he said.

What does this discovery mean? Well, in a time when Ozempic is being touted as the best way to drop weight without lifting a finger, SLU-PP-332 could be a direct competitor – and in more ways than one.

Researchers believe it could have the potential to treat diabetes, obesity and age-related muscle loss. 

“This may be able to keep people healthier as they age,” Burris said.

But it will be some time before it hits the market. SLU-PP-332 will need to be refined and ideally converted into pill form instead of an injection. It will also need to be trialled on other animals, and then eventually humans. 

What are the chances of it hitting the market?

Eureka reported, „Other exercise mimetics have been tested, but none have made it to market, in part because it takes years to develop a new drug.“

According to the publication, traditionally, weight loss-targeted drugs were tricky to get through drug regulators because of „how complex obesity is“. But the likes of Ozempic and Wegovy have changed that and led to more research.

„This development led to a surge of interest, research, and funding for drugs that could treat these metabolic diseases through different biological pathways.“