When Austin switched to a new primary care doctor, his wife, Lindsay, told him to ask for everything at his first appointment, including a PSA levels check. Even though nurse practitioners don’t typically check for this at age 45, Austin requested and got it done anyway. That night, the doctor’s office called back and informed him that his PSA was off the charts. They originally thought it was high because he exercised, but after rerunning it, the results were the same. A biopsy confirmed that Austin had a rare type of prostate cancer called small-cell prostate cancer and he began to see Dr. Alicia Morgans at Dana-Farber for treatment. Small-cell prostate cancer is considered a mixed tumor, meaning surgery would not be an effective option for him. It’s like having 2 different types of cancer inside the same tumor. The small cell portion was confined to the prostate, but the other portion was starting to spread.

Alicia Morgans is a Genitourinary Medical Oncologist and the Medical Director of the Survivorship Program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Additionally, in October, Morgans began working as an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. A clinician and investigator, she has expertise in clinical trials and patient-reported outcome measures, as well as incorporating patient preferences and beliefs into clinical decision making. Her research has investigated complications of systemic therapy for prostate cancer survivors, including the study of skeletal,
cardiovascular, diabetic, and cognitive complications. Her work has been funded by grants from the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Department of Defense. She is a member of the advanced and localized prostate cancer treatment guidelines committee of the American Urologic Association and is a member of the cardio-oncology committee of the American Heart Association. Since 2016, she has been Chair of the Medical Advisory Board for ZERO, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting education and research funding for prostate cancer research.