OUR NEXT MEETING IS AT 7:00 P.M., TUESDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2003
Dr. Robert Bristow will present: "It's all in Your Genes! New Scientific Approaches That May Soon Give You More Power in Prostate Cancer Decisions". Dr. Bristow is currently a Clinician-Scientist at the Princess Margaret Hospital with laboratory programs in prostate cancer biology and DNA repair. He is the Chair of the CARO Translational Biology Task Force and Co-Administrator of the Canadian Prostate Cancer BioResearch Network.
For years, doctors have used the digital rectal prostate exam, the PSA and the Gleason score to make decisions regarding the best treatment for prostate cancer. Dr. Bristow will review in layperson's terms new approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer where scientists can measure not one, but thousands of genes from a single tissue sample provided by a patient to give a 'genetic fingerprint'. These new approaches should help both the doctor, the patient and the patient's loved ones make the best choices for their prostate cancer care.
A reminder that we are now meeting at:
Room #2, The Terry Miller Recreation Center,
1295 Williams Parkway at the southwest corner of Williams Parkway & Bramalea Road,
adjacent to the North Peel Secondary School Complex.
The room is upstairs but is accessible by the elevator located across from the snack bar. Parking is ample and free.
Chairman Fred Norris missed the October 14th meeting as he was in hospital for a minor operation, but he will return to his duties at this meeting. Vice Chairman Ian Smith gracefully handled the master of ceremonies duties last month.

OCTOBER 14, 2003 - Dr. Richard Casey
The Terry Miller Hall hosted a crowd of over 60 members, wives and guests. Considering the inclement weather and the long weekend, member turn out was excellent.
Dr. Casey's 's presentation 'Clinical Trials in Prostate Cancer' held the audience in rapt attention. Dr. Casey explained the numerous terms and definitions pertaining to Clinical Trials and the many challenges and pitfalls involved in conducting such studies in an 'unbiased' manner. He elaborated on the various phases required in bringing new drugs to market and the standards that must be observed.
According to Dr. Casey, Canada's health system presents a more homogeneous environment for such studies and many U.S. pharmaceutical companies are favouring Canada for their programs. Today's care and drugs have taken great strides forward and are focused on disease management and quality of life while offering far better prognoses to patients compared to the past.
Dr. Casey described many new trials and studies such as the AVENTIS nutritional study and the Astra Zeneca / Novartis ZZ study. Disease arrest and prevention are the new frontiers being opened up with the new treatments expected to become available.
Dr. Casey's talk was of immense value to our members - anyone attending this session would most certainly have acquired significant new information and greater insights and left with a more positive and hopeful outlook. He advised members seeking information on participating in clinical studies to visit his web site: http://www.malehealth.com.
Those of you who missed it or who wish to review the information will be pleased to learn that the session may be heard or downloaded as MP 3 Streaming Audio on our web site - http://www.ustoo-brampton.com. In addition, an Audio CD of Dr. Casey's presentation has been prepared and submitted for entry into the 'Audio Books' section of Brampton library at the Chinguacousy and Four Corners branches. The CD may also be requested through other library branches. A Library call number will be posted on the web site and published in the Newsletter shortly.

A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR
Minor surgery prevented me from attending the October meeting, Thanks to the wizardry of Mukul Luthra, I was able to listen to Dr. Casey's presentation and to the questions from the audience on the CD that Mukul created after Dr. Casey's presentation for distribution via our web site and through the Brampton Public Library..
We are fortunate to have such expertise available and the addition of Paul Middleton, Mike Loughnan, and Peter Barhydt to our steering committee makes me believe that we have even better things in store!
- Fred Norris, Chairman, (905) 877-8092 e-mail fred.norris@sympatico.ca.

2003-2004 GUEST SPEAKERS
Confirmed speakers for the rest of the 2003 - 2004 season:
Tuesday, December 9th. - Our Christmas Social plus the computer magic of our Multimedia expert, Mukul Luthra and his merry band.
Tuesday January 13, 2004 - To open the New Year, Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim has agreed to host an Open Forum and field your questions about prostate cancer.
Tuesday February 10, 2004 - Michael J. Scime, B.Sc., M.Sc, MLT will describe"PSA Methodology". We hope that Dr. John Srigley will also attend to discuss "Gleason Scores" with us.
Tuesday, March 9th, 2004 - Tanya Giaquinto, has become a perennial favourite of our group and will once again update us on the topic of "Nutrition" at this meeting.
Tuesday, April 13th, 2004 - Alex Isbister will return to discuss Cancer and Its Sexual Implications.
Tuesday, May 11th, 2004 - Arlene Dalton, who gave us an excellent yoga demonstration last year, has also agreed to an encore and will discuss "Stress Management" at our meeting.
The Speaker Committee still has requests out for some interesting speakers for future meetings. As always, your suggestions are welcome.
PLEASE NOTE: Audio CD's of many of our recent meetings are available at the Chinguacousy Branch of the Brampton Public Library and from our New Member committee.
Don Grant, Speaker Committee, (905) 793-7376 e-mail dongrantmon@sympatico.ca

NEW MEMBER MEETINGS
Paul Middleton has accepted the position of New Member Coordinator. He will meet with the Florida-bound Don Grant to discuss the committee duties and procedures. Nice to have you aboard, Paul!
New Member meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday of each month at Suite 304, 57 Mill Street.
The next scheduled meeting will be held between 6:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 25.
To obtain detailed directions to this location, please contact: Don Grant, Member Relations, at (905) 793-7376 e-mail dongrantmon@sympatico.ca or Sean Butterly, Special Consultant at (905) 454-4237 or Chairman, Fred Norris, at (905) 877-8092 e-mail fred.norris@sympatico.ca.
 

FREE P.S.A. CLINIC
Effective August 15, 2003 a free P.S.A. clinic will be held in the Outpatient Clinic (2nd floor) at the Wm. Osler Health Centre, Brampton Campus. The clinic will operate every Thursday & Friday from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Bookings are not necessary, but it is better to phone ahead. (905) 796-4066 extension 24010.
Patients must present a requisition from their referring physician with diagnosis included. These clinics are open only to cancer patients or to individuals who are suspected of having prostate cancer.
Don Grant, Member Relations, (905) 793-7376 e-mail dongrantmon@sympatico.ca

FINANCE
Unfortunately, the residual effects of the SARS scare earlier this year remain with us. Our hospital does not appear likely to revert to the hospitable situation we enjoyed before SARS. As a result we are now forced to rent premises for all our meetings. This detracts from our desired level of support of Prostate Cancer awareness, although luckily we have built up a reasonable bank balance that we believe will tide us over for a while.
Therefore I must remind you that your yearly membership subscription of $10 is due. At this time, we have received subscriptions from only about half the membership. If you cannot make it to a meeting but still wish to remain a member and continue to receive the Newsletter, you can send a cheque made out to Us Too! Brampton, to: Gerry Brunjes, 8 Duke Road, Bramalea On. L6T 3K1.
We are also requesting a voluntary contribution of $2 per car at General Meetings to help defray the cost of the meeting hall. As we each paid that much or more for parking at the hospital and still had to walk some distance to the Auditorium, we trust this will not deter anyone from attending a General Meeting. As I said, this is voluntary. As always, there is no charge for refreshments served at the General Meetings, but all donations are appreciated.
We would like to thank member Al Hustins and his wife Emma for their generous donation for the fourth year in a row. Additional funds over and above the membership subscription help us to bring support and information to the public, and are very much appreciated.
Remember, your donations are tax deductible provided the amount is at least $200. Cheques in that amount or higher must be made out to The Canadian Prostate Cancer Network (CPCN). The CPCN will issue a tax receipt, and then remit the full donation amount to US Too! Brampton. This is just another facet of government control.
- Gerry Brunjes, Treasurer, (905) 791-3043, e-mail brunjes@idirect.com.

AWARENESS
We are waiting for Fortino's decision about a presentation at their recently publicized"Community Room" at the West Brampton location. They are also considering a Saturday "Information Table" at the same store.
Similarly, Costco is considering holding an "Information Table" at their new pharmacy in the Brampton store sometime this fall.
A major project being planned for the International Home & Garden Show scheduled for March, 2004 will involve volunteers from several other GTA support groups. We will need several volunteers from Us Too! Brampton to help make this a successful project.
Please check around your local pharmacy the next time you pick up a prescription to see if they require restocking of our Awareness literature. Again I'd like to hear from volunteers to assist in delivering brochures - it's a great way to see the city!
Ian Smith, Awareness Coordinator, (905) 454-3880, NEW e-mail iclacewood@sympatico.ca

OUR WEB SITE CONTINUES TO EVOLVE - www.ustoo-brampton.com
Check the web site frequently for new items of interest to all. For example, you can now download MP 3 audio presentations by Dr. Richard Casey ('Clinical Trials in Prostate Cancer' - October 14, 2003 ), Dr. Stanley Flax ('Brachytherapy or Radical?' - September 9, 2003 ), Tanya Giaquinto ('Nutrition' - March 11, 2003) and Alex Isbister ('Cancer and Emotion' - February 11, 2003).
Contact Mukul Luthra, Multimedia, (905) 873-8367, e-mail wftech@stn.net.

"US TOO!" PROMOTIONAL HATS
We still have a few Us Too! hats in stock at the subsidized price of only $5. See Don Grant at the next General Meeting or telephone (905) 793-7376 to buy yours.