Category: Prostatectomy

“It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” These words, attributed to Yogi Berra, are a humorous way of saying that we can remember the past and live in the present—but what lies ahead exists in a fog of uncertainty. In medicine, it’s important to manage expectations, since no treatments come with absolute guarantees. keep reading

Let’s say a real estate investor buys a dilapidated house, intending to tear it down and develop the property with a larger, up-to-date home. Since the house will be demolished, the investor decides to skip going through the rooms for an on-site inspection. If any furnishings were left behind, when the bulldozers come to do keep reading

Times change, but old myths die hard. Especially in medical practice, old beliefs have a way of hanging around. They can still influence decision-making. However, we should be wary of throwing out the baby with the bath. Just because newer treatments have emerged and become established, it doesn’t mean there’s no longer a place for keep reading

Patients who choose robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) believe it’s the best way to eradicate prostate cancer (PCa). In their mind, this equates to a cure. In fact, PCa can recur (come back) as long as 15 or more years after any whole-gland treatment. Increasingly, no one talks about “cure” anymore. Instead, “success” is defined as keep reading

Do you ever regret a decision that turns out to have a bad outcome? This is the situation for many prostate cancer (PCa) patients who chose radical prostatectomy (RP). A 2017 study found that 15% of PCa patients regret their treatment choice, with twice as many patients ruing the day they opted for RP or keep reading

I am frequently asked by patients how Focal Laser Ablation (FLA) compares to Radical Prostatectomy (RP) in terms of cancer control. After all, many of the men with localized prostate cancer (PCa) who come to Sperling Prostate Center have already been told by a urologist that they qualify for a nerve-sparing robotic RP that will keep reading

Once upon a time—November, 1994 to be exact–a team of researchers wanted to compare the effectiveness of radical prostatectomy (RP) vs. observation for men with localized prostate cancer (PCa). They launched a 7-year enrollment period, accruing 731 patients who would be randomly assigned to either radical prostatectomy (removal of prostate gland) or observation. Their study keep reading

Anyone who has been through physical therapy (PT) after an injury severe enough to impair daily function can attest to positive progress, even if painstakingly small and slow. Often, returning to normal function requires patience and practice as you... keep reading

For decades, thousands of men with insignificant PCa have been overtreated with prostatectomies. A new study raises questions about the practice and sheds light on the prostatectomy's decline. keep reading