Michael Izen is thankful for one year. It was a year he didn’t think he would get not too long ago. After surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and hormone treatment for advanced and aggressive prostate cancer, Izen learned the disease had spread to his liver.
“The prisoners were loose in the building,” he says with a laugh about the cancer cells travelling through his blood stream and infecting his liver.
He was told at the time he probably had about 12 months to live. But there was one last strategy to employ against the cancer-cell prison break. Izen’s care team at BC Cancer, including Dr. Kim Chi, recognized that a drug used to treat ovarian cancer might have an effect on prostate cancer.
That’s because genetic testing indicated Izen was a carrier of the BRCA2 gene mutation. Although it’s more commonly associated with breast and ovarian cancer, emerging research has shown that the BRCA2 mutation is also linked to a higher risk of developing prostate cancer.
The drug Izen was given specifically targets tumours linked to BRCA2. He started on it two years ago and credits it with helping him live a year longer than expected. During that time, he focused on family, including his wife and step-daughter, and also wrote a book describing his experience with prostate cancer called Finger Up the Bum. The title is a reference to the many examinations “down under” that his condition requires. His message about that sensitive subject to other men: “Get over it. That’s not the worst part of it.”
Izen’s initial stage 4 diagnosis five years ago was a surprise as prostate cancer is more often diagnosed in older men and he was only 45 at the time. He considers the BRCA2 mutation a significant contributing factor.
Having just turned 51, his treatment options have now run out. “I don’t know if I’ll hit 52,” he reports. But he is thankful for the unexpected extra year he got: “A whole year of life? That’s a pretty good year.”
Izen is a featured speaker at the BC Cancer Foundation’s Inspiration Gala this Saturday, Nov. 4, at the Fairmont Hotel to raise funds for the Hereditary Cancer Program at the BC Cancer Agency. For more information on the gala visit bccancerfoundation.com/signature-event/inspiration-gala.
