Navigating Prostate Cancer: A Map of the Territory and Guidelines for Leveling the Playing Field Shared by Patients, Care Providers, Clinical Researchers, and Advocates

¹Former Research Scientist at the New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, New York, USA
²Weill Cornell Medicine, Us TOO New York and Cancer ABCs, New York, USA

^*Corresponding Author: Al Pfadt, Former Research Scientist at the New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, New York, USA.

Received: August 28, 2019
Published: September 29, 2019

ABSTRACT

Prostate cancer, like other complex biomedical conditions, must be understood from multiple perspectives. This article presents a formal analytic model to serve as a conceptual map for exploring 4 distinctly different domains of prostate cancer. A navigational metaphor is used to reflect the challenges one encounters in crossing over from one domain to the others, without explicit guidelines to aid in this endeavor. Such a model levels the playing field shared by patients, care providers, clinical researchers, and advocates so that informed decisions can be made regarding treatment. It also helps all sub-groups within the prostate cancer community to achieve a deeper understanding of this potentially lethal disease and communicate more effectively with each other.