‘Zoolander’ Ben Stiller, 58, Is Excited To Keep Severing Work & Professional Life In Apple TV Drama– How He Beat Prostate Cancer

Prostate Cancer Treatment, Managing Side Effects

• Actor turned producer Ben Stiller, 58, latest project, season two of “Severance” will run on Apple TV. Stiller’s TV series picked up for another season is another illustration of his ability to thrive years after beating cancer.
• Stiller was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014 after undergoing a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. The test measures the prostate-specific antigen in the blood.
• An elevated PSA level in the blood does not always mean you have prostate cancer, but it calls for further testing.
• Stiller underwent a prostatectomy, which is a surgical treatment option for men with any risk group of prostate cancer that hasn’t spread outside of the prostate gland.
• During this procedure, the surgeon removes the entire prostate, along with some tissue around it, including the seminal vesicles that release fluid into the semen. Side effects may follow this procedure, which may include erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence.

Actor turned producer Ben Stiller's latest project was a focal point to Apple TV’s string of new TV series promoted at the Worldwide Developers Conference. “Severance” second season will run on the prized television platform, and Stiller wasted no time promoting it in a recent social media post. “Your innie has already seen this image. A first look at Severance Season 2,” Stiller, 58, posted on Instagram. The photo accompanying the post shows actor Adam Scott carrying blue balloons down an office hallway. 'Severance' unveils a unique narrative, following a tech company where employees' opted for experimental procedures to have an alternate work self,' as film resource IndieWire describes it. Stiller told the outlet he uses his family as a “focus group” for the television show’s storylines. He admits he wrestles with spoiling plotlines for the show while workshopping ideas. “We have this ongoing debate about spoilers because I’m working now on the scripts and prepping the show,” Stiller said.

We love seeing Stiller, a prostate cancer survivor, thriving after battling the disease impacting millions of men.

Helping Patients Understand Prostate Cancer Treatment Options

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• Genetic Testing for Advanced Prostate Cancer Can Help Tailor Treatment
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How Stiller Coped With Cancer

When Stiller was diagnosed, he happened to get a prostate-specific antigen test (PSA), which measures the prostate-specific antigen in the blood. An elevated PSA level in the blood does not always mean you have prostate cancer, but it does call for further tests. The “Zoolander” also underwent a biopsy, which revealed he had “mid-range aggressive” cancer. Since he was at higher risk, Stiller had a prostatectomy. This procedure is an option for men with any risk group of prostate cancer that hasn’t spread outside of the prostate gland.

During the procedure, the surgeon removes the entire prostate, along with some tissue around it, including the seminal vesicles that release fluid into the semen. Side effects may follow this procedure, which may include erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence. However, how long these side effects may linger is what the CEASAR (Comparative Effectiveness Analysis of Surgery and Radiation for Localized Prostate Cancer) study, coordinated by Vanderbilt University Medical Center, sought to answer.

The study followed roughly 2,500 men from diverse backgrounds in the United States. All of the men were diagnosed between 2011 and 2012 with prostate cancer and had received treatment. Over ten years, the participants were closely monitored and asked to answer several questions regarding side effects related to urinary, bowel, sexual, and hormone therapy. The participants were placed into two groups depending on their treatment plan. One group included patients treated with active surveillance, nerve-sparing prostatectomy, external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), and low-dose-rate brachytherapy. Active surveillance is a “watch-and-wait” approach for men with low-risk prostate cancer, meaning you have a small number of cancer cells found in your biopsy, a low PSA, and a low-grade cancer. This approach is typically enough for men with low-risk prostate cancer. However, if you’ve been diagnosed with moderate-risk cancer, more may be needed. WATCH: Understanding How Active Surveillance Works Nerve-sparing prostatectomy surgically removes the prostate while protecting the nerves to minimize the side effects of erectile dysfunction. External beam radiation therapy uses high doses of radiation to stop cancer cells from dividing and shrinking tumors. Low-dose-rate brachytherapy is a form of radiotherapy. The second group of study participants was treated with prostatectomy or external beam radiation therapy with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), which combines radiation treatment with anti-hormone therapy, which reduces the male hormone androgen. The study’s findings suggest that for “Men with localized prostate cancer (cancer confined to the prostate), radical prostatectomy was associated with a greater decrease in sexual function and urinary incontinence than either EBRT or active surveillance after three years and was associated with fewer urinary irritative symptoms than active surveillance." "However, no meaningful differences existed in either bowel or hormonal function beyond 12 months or in other domains of health-related quality of life measures.”

Managing Prostate Cancer & Treatment Side Effects

For men with localized prostate cancer, radical prostatectomy was associated with “significant declines in sexual function” compared with EBRT and active surveillance. Urinary incontinence scores by participants also “declined significantly after surgery compared with EBRT and active surveillance.” WATCH: A Healthy Sex Life Is Possible After Prostate Cancer In addition to gauging possible long-term side effects of certain prostate cancer treatments, researchers say they hope their findings help patients and their care team fine-tune their treatment outlook. “The findings underscore the importance of counseling men with unfavorable prognosis prostate cancer differently than favorable prognosis cancer regarding expected long-term functional outcomes and suggest that adverse effects of treatments on sexual function may be deemphasized in decision making for some men,” senior author Dr. Daniel Barocas professor and executive vice chair of Urology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) told the VUCM Reporter.

Questions for Your Doctor

If you have experienced symptoms associated with prostate cancer or have a screening coming up, here are some questions you may ask your doctor:

• If I had elevated PSA levels, what could be causing that besides cancer?
• How long will it take to learn if my PSA levels warrant further testing?
• What are the treatment options that are best suited for me based on my risk level?
• What financial resources exist to help me with the costs associated with treatment?
• How long will my potential treatment prevent me from working or continuing normal activities?