William Clapp

“The more I learned, the more afraid I was of dying.”
  Diagnosed with prostate cancer at age 63

When he changed doctors at age 63, William Clapp received his first prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test.  The results showed that he probably had metastatic prostate cancer. This simple blood test detects the amount of prostate-specific antigens in the blood. The higher the reading, the greater the likelihood of prostate cancer. 

Medical authorities recommend that all men have annual PSA tests beginning at age 50 (or age 40 for African-American men or those with a family history of prostate cancer since they are at higher risk).  Nonetheless, Mr. Clapp’s prior physician had neglected to conduct a PSA test. 

Mr. Clapp’s own test results prompted him to research the disease thoroughly.  "The more I learned," he says, "the more afraid I was of dying."  Mr. Clapp elected to be treated by Dr. Philip Kantoff, a Prostate Cancer Foundation-supported oncologist who heads the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School.  Mr. Clapp participated in a PCF-funded study that uses chemotherapy before surgery. 

Men such as William Clapp, with very high PSA levels, are typically poor candidates for surgery because their disease often has spread to other organs.  "They receive hormones plus radiation, and then you just cross your fingers," Dr. Kantoff says.  Because Mr. Clapp’s prostate cancer appeared to be confined, surgery was a possibility, especially with the use of chemotherapy before surgery.

Although the chemotherapy made the difference between success and failure, Dr. Kantoff says, "The story here is the whole approach of trying drugs preoperatively, which is very labor-intensive and expensive and would not have been possible without the PCF’s vision and funding." Without it, Mr. Clapp might have been written off as a hopeless case. Instead, he has done extraordinarily well.

Mr. Clapp continued to work during chemotherapy and missed only a month of work after surgery. Then, in May 2002, at age 65, he retired. Now he spends his days working out at a YMCA, taking culinary arts classes, and playing with his young grandsons.   His PSA has remained at zero for the past two years. And, he can look forward once again.

His whole perspective on life has changed. "I’m more calm now, because there are more important things in life. I want to live longer than my grandfather, who died at 93. I think I can do it.  I feel like I'm born again."