Ms Gina Growden, Executive Officer of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, based at Lane Cove, was the speaker at our first meeting for 2003. Gina has an Agricultural Science background. Because there were few openings in this field for women when she graduated, she began working in fundraising for the Red Cross. She came to Sydney in 1989 and was active in telemarketing, working with various charities, including part-time with the Huntingdon Disease group in West Ryde. Gina joined the Prostate Cancer Foundation in May, 1998 and finds the work challenging and rewarding. Her knowledge of prostate cancer has increased enormously in the past five years.

The Foundation, which was established as a result of the activities of Roger Climpson, is now six years old, as contrasted with other cancer groups which are 30 to 40 years old. When Climpson was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1992, he found the information he was given difficult and confusing, as well as conflicting and out of date. He was getting different opinions, which he found unbelievable for a disease so common among men. His treatment occurred in 1994. He found that there was very little research into prostate cancer being done, because there was very little money available. He approached his local Rotary Club and spoke at one of its meetings, as a result of which he got a commitment from the Club to set up a Foundation. He was very much influenced by Pam Russell, a top researcher into prostate cancer at the Prince of Wales Hospital. She, in fact, approached him to use his profile to help arouse public awareness.

A problem for researchers in the field is that funds distributed by the National Medical Health and Research Council tend to be in small amounts for short term projects. Pam Russell's need was for funding to spread over four to five years in order to mount useful research, but usually she was awarded small amounts for one year only, which was too uncertain a basis on which to mount projects that need to last for several years. The Prostate Cancer Foundation was set up with the aim of providing adequate funds for the time required to complete research projects. A peer review committee has been set up to act as a filter for research grant applications. The members of the Committee know what is happening in prostate cancer research all over Australia and so are in a position to evaluate applications and allocate funds.

The Foundation's aim was, initially, to fund research into the causes and treatment of prostate cancer. It found that at St Vincent's Hospital there was a support group with a similar name, though with more emphasis on support programs. The two bodies joined forces and dropped the word 'research' from the new name. Later it was found that there was also a group of business men in Melbourne, headed by a urologist at Melbourne Hospital, and interested in prostate cancer. When it came to register its name, it found that the Prostate Cancer Foundation already existed. Once again the groups got together and a Victorian Division of the Foundation was set up to work in tandem. In four years, the Foundation's membership has grown from 300 to 17 000.

When St Vincent's joined forces with the Foundation, support groups for prostate cancer patients were beginning to pop up in various places. Through the work there of Max Gardner, an association of support groups was formed, which enabled them to remain autonomous while existing under the one umbrella. There are now 60 such groups established across Australia, and numbers are growing at the rate of about one a month.

The Foundation was incorporated in 1996. Its structure consists of a Board, comprising three urologists, two research scientists, and representatives of the business world and Rotary. Gina Growden is the only full time employee in Sydney, but she is assisted by part time support staff. The Foundation's prime roll is fund raising. It is a registered charity with its own program, but is a separate entity from the Lane Cove Rotary Club, which provides strong support. It uses direct mail marketing, telemarketing (which is a profitable part of its fundraising), and holds a raffle twice a year. It also has a number of corporate supporters, which tend to be project based. These include: the Commonwealth Bank, whose major contribution is in funding a tissue bank; Vogel's; and the Australian Women's Weekly. It is also the recipient of major gifts, but it receives no government funding. Men's health is not an issue for governments, and so funding is not forthcoming for prostate cancer.

Until about the last 10 years, prostate cancer research was not encouraged. The Foundation wanted to rectify this, and to get itself known among young researchers. To begin with, it aimed to provide travel grants for them to attend conferences, give papers and undertake research. In a few short years, the Foundation¹s annual budget has grown from $190 000 to over $1 000 000. However, prostate cancer remains a poor cousin, receiving only one tenth of the money that goes to breast cancer, despite the statistics for incidence and death rates being so similar for the two diseases.

Most advances in future prostate cancer research are believed likely to be at the genetic level, hence the need for a prostate cancer tissue bank. Normally, Pam Russell would go to the Garvan Institute or to hospitals to obtain tissue. However, a tissue bank is able to provide tissue samples for research for which there is some knowledge of the nature and history of the tissue. The Foundation has set aside funds to set up such a bank. It will be handled like the Peer Review Committee for research applications. Incidentally, in December, the Foundation awarded a second research scholarship which will provide $300 000 over three years.

The Foundation also provides a 1800 information line. (See the end of the Newsletter for this!) Operators are not medically trained, although there are trained counsellors available. Information provided includes articles, videos etc, which have been specifically prepared or which are the result of a suggestion made by a support group. Facts sheets are also available, together with a newsletter, Prostate News, which appears four times a year and contains articles by scientists or experts in the field. The next issue, with a print run of 20 000, will be released within a few weeks.

Awareness raising is another of the Foundation's activities. A program is due to be shown on SKY TV during February. There is much ignorance of prostate cancer in the community. A recent survey tested 9% of people in the 50-70 year age group: 50% of the men felt informed about prostate cancer, whereas 80% of the women felt informed about breast cancer. And the chances of a man in this age group getting prostate cancer are 1:11. Also, there is one death from prostate cancer every three hours in Australia. Just before Christmas, an insurance group interested in raising awareness of prostate cancer offered the Foundation $1 200 000 over three years to mount a publicity campaign However, this project was actively opposed by the Federal Government and certain other cancer groups, on the grounds that there is no adequate research evidence to support the notion that early intervention is helpful. Overseas research to provide evidence one way or the other will not be ready until somewhere in the period 2007-2014. Currently the campaign is on hold, though it still has the support of the organisation. Another awareness campaign will occur in July at the Life Style exposition at Rosehill. The Women's Weekly is also mounting a Symposium in Melbourne on 28 May. This will take the form of a breakfast for businessmen in the 40-50 age group.

Relations with corporate firms include Vogel, which produces Lycosoy Sticks. This product arose out of evidence from the Department of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School. It suggested a dietary link to prostate cancer both before and after diagnosis, through a substance called lycopene. The Department surveyed 47 000 colleagues and found there was less likelihood of developing prostate cancer among men who had more than 10 feeds per week of tomatoes cooked in olive oil. Vogel has pledged a percentage of sales of the Lycosoy Stick to the Foundation. The product is doing well in the UK but it has to be hunted out in Australia. There is also indication of a lower incidence of prostate cancer among Asian men, supposedly linked to the high consumption of vegetables, soy products, and a low fat diet.

The Northern Beaches Prostate Cancer Support Group has received a Certificate of Appreciation from the NSW Cancer Council for its support at the Relay for Life rally at Brookvale Oval in November last year. This is now proudly displayed in the Palliative Care Cottage at Mona Vale Hospital. We are always ready and willing to participate in any activities in aid of prostate or other cancers.

PCFA receives $3 for used inkjet and toner cartridges. They will call and collect 10 or more used cartridges free of charge. Alternatively, bring your used cartridges to the monthly meetings and we will arrange to get them to the Foundation. For further information, contact PCFA on 02 9418 7942.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) has produced a small and smart lapel badge, bearing the words Finding the Answers Together and the Foundation's sunflower logo. The cost is only $4.00 and badges can be obtained at the sign-in desk at each meeting. Proceeds go towards the vital work of the Foundation.

a) If you surf the Internet, you will have come across a pretty extensive list of websites to do with prostate cancer. If you have found any that strike you as particularly helpful, please give us a ring (on 9918 9358) or send us an e-mail (conroyjs@bigpond.com) so that we can pass the information on to others in the group.

b) Go to www.andrologyaustralia.org for Issue No.5, The Healthy Male.There is a good range of articles on men¹s health, including a clarification of a statement made about prostate cancer in Issue No. 4: a British Medical Journal study had found no significant difference in overall mortality rates between patients who had had radical prostatectomies and those who chose watchful waiting; however, the study found that prostatectomy significantly reduced disease specific mortality.

If you saw the PCFA Newsletter No.11, Winter, 2002, you will probably have read the article about the work David Smith is doing gathering facts and figures about the incidence of prostate cancer among Australian men, and what has been happening over recent years with changes in diagnosis and treatment techniques. David will be giving an update on his findings, which should be interesting listening after some of the things we heard from Gina Growden at the February meeting. Be sure to come along and hear what David has to say.

Program Co-ordinator Dr Peter Moore Northern Beaches Palliative Care 9997 3555	Group Leader John Conroy 9918 9358 conroyjs@bigpond.com
NSW Cancer Council Cancer Support Helpline 13 11 20	Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia 1800 220 099