Category: Focal Treatment & Laser Ablation
Prostate Cancer, Active Surveillance, and Anxiety
“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” -Charles Spurgeon Cancer brings anxiety I have yet to meet a cancer patient who is completely free of anxiety. Even people who think they might have cancer start to live under the shadow of anxiety (“My mammogram showed something suspicious” keep readingOne Man’s Opinion About Focal Therapy for Prostate Cancer
A “snapshot” of this moment in PCa treatment I came across a journal article by a Brazilian urologic specialist, Dr. Stênio Cássio Zequi of the Camargo Cancer Center in São Paulo, Brazil.[i] He asks if focal therapy will be the next step in prostate cancer (PCa) management. Before expressing his opinion, he writes what amounts keep reading
New Patient Selection Guidelines for Focal Therapy
When a hive of honeybees becomes overpopulated, about half the bees leave the hive in a swarm to colonize a new site. There could be hundreds of bees in the swarm, and once the swarm is gathered in an intermediate place, a subgroup of scouts break away to explore and find several potential new sites keep readingThe Sperling Prostate Center Joins Focal MRgFUS Clinical Trial
The Sperling Prostate Center joins a prestigious group of academic and community medical centers participating in a Phase Three clinical trial of a new prostate cancer focal treatment. Dr. Sperling is the Principal Investigator at our Boca Raton, FL study site. The treatment under investigation is MRI-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS), a noninvasive technology for the keep readingLet’s Talk About Preserving Sexual Function
I came across a very illuminating study titled “Physician Recommendations Trump Patient Preferences in Prostate Cancer Decisions.”[i] The researchers polled 257 newly diagnosed low-to-intermediate risk PCa patients after diagnosis but before their next urology consultation. The patients answered questions about their preferences in the following areas: Treatment preference Interest in sex Cancer-related anxiety. The study’s keep readingNew Image-Based Analysis Predicts Focal Laser Ablation Outcomes
I’m excited to announce news about a new way to quantify the effects of focal laser ablation (FLA) in a way that may allow us to predict long term treatment success. I was a member of a research team out of Case Western Reserve University that developed an innovative way to use MRI before, during keep readingThe Time For Focal Laser Ablation Is Here
Until about 10 years ago, conventional prostate cancer treatments were based on the assumption that prostate cancer is a multifocal disease. All conventional treatment modalities (surgery, radiotherapy, and thermal ablation) were “radical” because they were directed at the removal or destruction of the whole gland. Such treatments, however, put urinary and sexual function at risk, keep readingProstate Cancer: Family History and Focal Laser Ablation
At the Sperling Prostate Center, we believe family history matters, and patients who have a hereditary history of any kind of cancer, especially first degree relatives deserve special counseling. keep reading