SEQUIM — A prostate cancer expert from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center will give a free lecture on the prevention, detection and sometimes-controversial treatment of the highly common disease today in Sequim.

Dr. Peter S. Nelson, an oncologist who specializes in therapies for early- and late-stage prostate cancer, will discuss how the understanding of the molecular basis of the disease can improve outcomes.

The lecture, titled “Prostate Cancer: Why Diagnosis Doesn’t Always Mean Treatment,” will begin at 7 p.m. at the Olympic Medical Center Medical Services Building, 840 N. Fifth St., Sequim.

OMC the host

OMC is hosting the event.

“One in every six men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with prostate cancer,” Nelson wrote in an email to the Peninsula Daily News.

“However, several studies suggest that if a man lives long enough, and if you look very closely, you could find prostate cancer in essentially every man,” he wrote

“Thus, the estimated prevalence of prostate cancer in the U.S. exceeds 20 million.”

Nelson is an associate member of the clinical research division at the Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and an associate professor of medical oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

In some cases, prostate cancer grows so slowly that many men with small cancers won’t benefit from treatment.

Nelson and his colleagues are working to identify the molecular and genetic hallmarks of prostate tumor cells.

By doing so, researchers hope to determine which patients would benefit from aggressive cancer treatment and which patients would be better off with only observation.

“Although prostate cancer accounts for around 30,000 deaths per year, the prevalence of prostate cancer indicates that the vast majority of prostate cancers will be indolent — that is, will never cause a problem,” Nelson said.

“Thus, the major goal is to understand — predict — how a given prostate cancer will behave — determine those that actually require aggressive treatment versus those that can be left alone, and avoid the considerable side-effects associated with treatment.

“My talk will focus on efforts designed to personalize prostate cancer therapy.”

Nelson will also discuss a strategy called “active surveillance” for managing newly diagnosed prostate cancers and describe why this would be a good option for many men, he said.

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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.