Tag: MRI

If your PSA is unusually high or your digital rectal exam finds an abnormality, how do you know if it’s prostate cancer? Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is now the universally preferred noninvasive method for identifying prostate cancer (PCa) prior to having a biopsy. In the years leading up to this, researchers worked toward agreement over keep reading

Question: What’s every man’s favorite medical exam? Answer: Pretty much anything as long as it’s not the Digital Rectal Exam! I know a lot of men who stoically accept the fact that during their annual physical, their primary care doctor or urologist will perform a routine digital rectal exam (DRE). It’s sometimes jokingly called “the keep reading

In astronomy, news of a relatively rare alignment of heavenly bodies tends to generate excitement on planet earth. For example, over an 18-year period, only three or four total lunar eclipses will be visible from beginning to end (depending where you are and assuming the night is clear). I got excited over the convergence of keep reading

What’s more important: saving men’s lives or saving healthcare dollars? Obviously, saving life is the top priority. But, if the two values could be combined at a single stroke, who wouldn’t jump at it? The way to achieve this integration is spelled out in a Nov. 2022 online JAMA Oncology article. In “Cost effectiveness of keep reading

The “Story of the Three Bears” has captured the imagination of millions of children since its original version was published in 1837. The tale has evolved over time. In modern versions, the mischief-making invader of the bears’ home has changed from a bad-tempered old woman to Goldilocks, a hungry girl wandering in a forest. Let’s 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

The bold tag line for University College London (UCL) is “Disruptive thinking since 1826.” Back in 1826, when this global university was founded, the phrase disruptive thinking did not even exist! Today, the term disruptive permeates the worlds of industry, businesses, technology and research. Not only do disruptive innovations alter the way these fields operate, keep reading

What do breast cancer (BCa) and prostate cancer (PCa) have in common? As it turns out, they share several characteristics: They are both the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. They are both related to sexuality and reproduction They are both subject to hormone-driven cancers that respond to drugs that affect hormone keep reading

By accident, I discovered a web presentation on the basic principles of MRI that was not only easy and clear, but also entertaining and charming. Sound impossible? It’s not as far-fetched as it seems, thanks to the work of Prasanna Tilakaratna, a very intelligent man with a gentle sense of humor. keep reading

We all know how consumer demand spawns knockoffs of high-end goods, and how inferior the resulting imitations are. For instance, there’s a huge quality gap between a flea market “Rolex” vs. the original Swiss superstar. But a Rolex watch is not accessible for everyone, so in the interest of maintaining one’s image, compromise comes easily. keep reading