Navigating Prostate Cancer: A Map Of The Territory And Guidelines For Leveling The Playing Field Shared By Patients, Care Providers, Clinical Researchers, And Advocates

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.