Tag: prostate cancer
Demythologizing the Gold Standard
We live in an age of medical specialties that “compete” for patients. In women’s health, for example, treating noncancerous growths called uterine fibroid tumors has traditionally been the territory of gynecologists. Gynecologists, like urologists, were trained in surgery so they often recommend hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus) as the gold standard for treating severe keep readingMRI and The Magic 8 Ball
Within a few years after the blog below was posted, continued progress in multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) methods bolstered its ability to predict aggressiveness of prostate cancer (PCa) before biopsy. Technologic improvements have led to faster image acquisition and higher resolution images, in turn enhancing its predictive power. Now, to add even more predictive value... keep reading
“I Did It My Way”
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 readingWhat Happens When Prostate Biopsies Are Negative?
The annual American Urological Society meeting (AUA 2015, May 15-19) has more presentations than ever on multiparametric MRI detection of prostate cancer, MRI targeted biopsies, MRI/ultrasound fusion, and MRI-guided focal therapies. The urologic world is sitting up and taking notice as advanced imaging is changing the prostate cancer landscape. I will be sharing selected presentations keep readingExperts Weigh In On MRI and Active Surveillance
An international team of experts on imaging prostate cancer participated in a review of the literature on prostate MRI and active surveillance.[i] To give you an idea of how impressive the team was, here is a list of the institutions they represent: Erasmus University Medical Center (Depts. of Urology and Radiology), Rotterday, the Netherlands University keep readingThe Impact of the Recommendation Against PSA Screening
In 2012, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued a recommendation against routine PSA screening for otherwise healthy men. Almost immediately, prostate cancer support organizations and hundreds of clinical professionals raised an outcry. While acknowledging that the non-prostate cancer specific blood test often led to over-detection and over-treatment of indolent prostate cancer, countless lives keep readingLet’s Speak the Same MRI Diagnostic Language
A man who is suspected of having prostate cancer, or whose cancer has been biopsy confirmed, can develop the best right treatment plan if he also has a multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) of the prostate. When his own doctor sends him to an imaging center, his scan is “read” by the center’s radiologist who writes a keep readingMRI Before TRUS Re-Biopsy Increases Accuracy
It seems intuitive, if not obvious, that superior imaging of the prostate gives precise information to guide a biopsy needle into a cancerous tumor. The typical ultrasound imaging used by urologists in their offices is inferior to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Ultrasound-guided transrectal (TRUS) biopsy has a minimum 35% chance of missing cancer. If our keep readingWould You Change Your Diet to Prevent PCa?
Do you know what causes cancer? Do you believe that diet can affect your chances of either causing or preventing prostate cancer? Would you change what you eat if you thought it could make a positive difference? I ran across an interesting small study that grew out of a larger British program called the ProDiet keep reading
