Tag: focal treatment

Imagine it’s 1995. The PSA blood test has recently been deployed for widespread screening. You’re 73 with a mild heart problem. Your doctor suggests you have a PSA test as part of your annual physical. It comes back at 13.5 ng/mL. After a 6 needle TRUS biopsy (yes, a standard sextant biopsy back then meant keep reading

Has this ever happened to you? You don’t feel well or you have a weird symptom and you make an appointment with your doctor. After discussion and maybe a test or two, your doc gives you a diagnosis. You have a condition that is not life threatening at the moment (such as low-risk prostate cancer) keep reading

Before a prostate cancer patient makes a final decision to have focal laser ablation, I go over the details of MRI-guided FLA and what to expect after treatment. I remind each person that it’s important to monitor for PCa recurrence. After any focal treatment (cryo, HIFU, Focal Laser Ablation, MRgFUS, TULSA) PCa can either come back in the treatment site—called treatment failure, meaning the treatment did not destroy all the cancer at the site—or recur in a different location... keep reading

What do Italy and China have in common? At first glance, the two countries don’t appear to share much by way of geography (Europe vs. Asia), size (small vs. gigantic), or culture (Western vs. Oriental). However, according Eastant, a market research and consulting team, the two nations embrace four similar characteristics: a proud history, family keep reading

Curiosity is, well, a curious thing. The philosopher Thomas Hobbes dubbed it “the lust of the mind.” After all, from birth onward the brain has a constant appetite to know stuff. In a New Science article, science writer Dan Jones states, “Curiosity is the driving force behind science, exploration and discovery.” It may occur as keep reading

Unnecessary treatment. Morbidities (side effects). Up to 67% overdiagnosis. These words and phrases come from a published literature review that asks, “What chance do we have to decrease prostate cancer overdiagnosis and overtreatment?” For many, the answer lies in... keep reading

Out of curiosity, I took a tour of well respected websites that offer prostate cancer treatment information to patients or those worried about the disease. I was disappointed with the results of my “survey.” When it comes to treatment... keep reading

One of the ongoing themes in my blogs is the importance of matching a patient’s prostate cancer with the treatment for which he is best qualified. The lower the risk, the more treatment options will be open, possibly including focal therapy. However, “bulky” intermediate-to-high risk prostate cancer excludes focal treatment because it requires a more aggressive approach... keep reading

Multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) has sparked a revolution in prostate cancer (PCa) detection, diagnosis and image-guided treatments. Transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) does not even begin to compare with the anatomic definition and tissue characterization provided by high-resolution, 3D mpMRI scans. This breakthrough technology has been a godsend for patients in such areas as Avoiding unnecessary needle biopsies keep reading

Is there any human being who would greet a cancer diagnosis with good cheer? I suspect not, because it’s not good news. It automatically triggers the most basic of all fears: am I going to die? Even the most optimistic or logical person can’t keep that question from popping up, at least momentarily. If the keep reading