Category: Other Treatments
Men need testosterone, but prostate cancer does not. While there is new evidence that use of testosterone replacement therapy does not lead to prostate cancer, once prostate cancer has occurred, it appears to be fueled by testosterone. This is particularly bad news if prostate cancer has penetrated the edges of the gland capsule and begun keep reading
In the urologic world, there is a longstanding bias that surgical removal of the prostate gland, or radical prostatectomy (RP), is the preferred treatment for prostate cancer (PCa). It is based in the outdated belief that all PCa is a) multifocal, and b) likely to spread beyond the gland if untreated. Thus, it seemed logical keep reading
A new approach to focal treatment for prostate cancer has made its entrance onto the world stage and has patients talking. It is called photodynamic therapy (photo for light, dynamic for action) or PDT. It involves administering a light-sensitive chemical called TOOKAD® by a 10-minute IV injection, which is quickly taken up in the prostate keep reading
A newly available prostate cancer treatment has made Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest not-for-profit health plans, sit up and take notice. On October 4, 2016, the life sciences news service StatNews featured an article by Kaiser News staffer Julie Appleby, “Billboards and Websites Push Costly Prostate Cancer Treatment With Unknown Long-Term Benefits.”[i] The treatment keep reading
One of the most respected robotic surgeons, Dr. David Samadi, is an active online participant, with regular blogs on relevant prostate cancer topics. The New York Daily News recently (Sep. 22, 2016) carried an article by Dr. Samadi, “Prostate Cancer Means Deciding between Surgery or Radiation.”[i] In talking about the necessity of doing research in keep reading
Cryotherapy, or freezing, is a method of destroying prostate cancer by subjecting the prostate gland to the extreme temperature of -40° Celsius. The procedure, done under anesthesia, consists of using ultrasound image guidance to insert thin hollow needles into the prostate gland through the perineum (skin between the scrotum and anus). When argon gas is keep reading
Here’s a little quiz: Which whole gland therapy for prostate cancer has the highest risk of recurrence? Radical prostatectomy Radiation therapy Cryotherapy of the whole gland HIFU of the whole gland If you answered radiation, you are correct. According to a recent article, the rate of prostate cancer coming back after conventional external beam radiation keep reading
I remember being at a medical convention about 10 years ago and overhearing a conversation between two doctors, specialty unknown, who were speaking positively about Dr. Patrick Walsh’s famous contribution, the nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy (RP). As I later learned, he first applied his technique in 1982, and the patient regained potency about a year after keep reading
You’ve probably heard the saying that a camel is a horse that was designed by a committee. It is a comic way of recognizing that groups of people with no unifying vision or systematic communication process are likely to fail at collective design. However, there is an effective antidote. It is an approach to gaining keep reading
One of Frank Sinatra’s most popular songs is “My Way,” and anyone who’s heard him sing it knows how he builds up to those last two syllables: myyyyyy waaay. When I chose medicine as my career path, part of what influenced me was my idealism. I wanted to help people by curing disease and easing keep reading
