Category: Other Treatments
Treatment Billboards: Half Truths in Advertising?
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 readingPatients Need to Know about Focal Alternatives
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 readingPotential Complications of Cryotherapy
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 readingImmunotherapy: Great Hope and Some Disappointment
The challenge to overcome cancer has been around as long as the human race has known about cancer. An Egyptian papyrus from 1600 B.C. identifies cancer and describes removal of a breast tumor by cauterizing (burning) it. The writer notes that there is no known cure for cancer.[i] In modern times, the three main methods keep readingConcern Regarding Radiation Overuse
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 readingPost-prostatectomy Rates of ED Have Not Improved
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