I stumbled across this video on my YouTube feed and found it to be a great overview of many of the trials that are behind the advances in advanced prostate cancer treatment. The video is apparently part of a larger training course for doctors, so it’s not geared toward patients. Even so, I found it informative and (mostly) understandable.

One thing that I found interesting was that there’s an apparent shift away from the use of the word “castration” in describing the state of the disease and treatment options.

The purpose of this was really to ensure that we were trying to be thoughtful around our patients’ feelings around use of the word “castration” and trying to eliminate that from the terminology.

Instead of describing it as “non-metastatic castrate sensitive prostate cancer (nmCSPC)” it’s now called “androgen pathway modulation sensitive (APMS)” or “androgen pathway modulation naïve (APMN).” Once the cancer becomes resistant, it will be called “androgen pathway modulation resistant (APMR).”

To me, it seems as though they want to sugarcoat the hormone therapy experience with these name changes, and the patient may not grasp the full gravity of what’s about to happen to him when he starts this treatment. I’d definitely understand “castration” before understanding “androgen pathway modulation sensitive.” To be fair, it would be interesting to see how many men turn down hormone therapy because they hear the word “castration.” Maybe that’s the driving force behind the name change.

Because Dr. Rettig works with veteran patients at the VA Los Angeles, it was helpful to me to hear some of his insights working with that group.

The video is an hour long.