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    Prostate cancer and genetics

    In 2016, Nelson and SPORE collaborators Heather Cheng, MD, PhD, and Colin Pritchard, MD, PhD,  showed that men with advanced prostate cancer were five times more likely than men in the general population to have inherited mutations in DNA-repair genes like BRCA1 and BRCA2.

    It highlighted the role that inherited mutations may play in cancer development and the importance of genetic screening for prostate cancer patients and their family members. A patient’s siblings may also have inherited the same mutation, and they may have passed it to their own children. If a man tests positive for such a mutation, his family members have critical information they can use to assess their own risk. If they also test positive, the family members can opt for more aggressive screening strategies designed to catch prostate (and breast, ovarian and pancreatic) cancers early.

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    Theranostics treatments for cancer underway at UCLA Health

    UCLA Health’s new leading-edge theranostics center that uses targeted radioactive drugs to treat advanced cancer is now open. The center, which opened Feb. 13, will mostly treat advanced prostate cancer but will also see people with thyroid cancer and neuroendocrine tumors.

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    Hollywood’s Take on Oncology: Portrayal of Cancer in Movies, 2010-2020

    Actress Audrey Hepburn once stated, “Everything I learned, I learned from the movies.” Despite many movies being fictional and dramatizations in nature and intent, respectively, studies have revealed that films can potentially influence an individual’s opinions and beliefs on wide-ranging issues such as HIV, mental disorders, smoking, immigration, government, and foreign countries. As such, cinema and movies play an integral role in society by shaping public opinion on numerous topics including cancer.

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