A new treatment for prostate cancer has been reported by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania.

This new treatment uses a specially designed antibody called F77. Like all antibodies, F77 seeks out and destroys only specific tissues in the body while leaving all other tissues intact.

F77 has been designed to specifically target prostate cancer cells and to ignore all other types of cells in the body. Preliminary results in mice have been promising and have been reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS).

A new study from researchers at Harvard University and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has shown that the rates of both suicide and heart attack increase significantly in men during the first week after they are diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Doctors have long known that acute stress can result in dramatic health effects, but this is one of the first studies to show a fairly concrete spike in suicide and heart attack after prostate cancer diagnosis.

No one is quite sure as to what the implications of a study like this should be. Men still need to be told that they have been diagnosed with prostate cancer - it cannot really be avoided. Perhaps close monitoring of the recently diagnosed man by friends and family (as well as his physician) would be prudent.

Even without the dramatic results of suicide or heart attack, a prostate cancer diagnosis often leads to feelings of depression, anxiety, and a whole range of other emotions.

It's also important to remember that this study doesn't show that being diagnosed with prostate cancer causes suicide or heart attack, just that they are more common after diagnosis.

Photo by Janie Airey - Getty Images

A new report suggests that the death rate from cancer has fallen yet again in the United States.

The three biggest cancer killers of men showed declines as lung, prostate, and colon cancer all claimed fewer lives.

Experts are attributing the overall decline to several factors including better screening tools, improved treatments, and better lifestyle choices (most prominently fewer people smoking).

Cancer death rates have been decreasing steadily for over 10 years in the United States.

Dendreon, the company that has spent millions of dollars developing a prostate cancer vaccine only to have its product, called Provenge, recently rejected by the FDA, is showing confidence that its re-application to the FDA will be accepted.

The company recently began offering stock in an effort to raise $15 million to build more manufacturing capacity for the vaccine and is already planning its commercial launch.

The FDA is expected to rule on the newest application next year.