The loss of erectile function after surgery Radical Prostatectomy is most frequently caused by intraoperative injury to the neurovascular bundles. It is known that if both bundles are removed, patients seldom recover erectile function. Accordingly, neurovascular bundle preservation during Radical prostatectomy has proven benefits in terms of erectile function recovery. Read the article.
New technology has enabled doctors to administer higher doses of radiation to prostate cancer patients with fewer side effects. However, a new study shows that escalating the dose may not actually help a patient in the long term, at least not patients with localized prostate cancer. Read the article.
Technology developed in Oxford to make tumour cells fluorescent could improve surgery outcomes for men with prostate cancer. Fluorescent compounds show up diseased cells during keyhole operations, allowing surgeons to be more precise when removing the prostate and tissue around it. Read the article.
Scientists have identified 11 compounds that have the potential to significantly improve the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, and say they could be used to develop more targeted and effective drugs so even better treatments can be offered in the future. Right now, prostate cancer – like most other forms of the disease – is fought with drugs that damage healthy cells as well as cancerous ones. Read the article.
Challenges remain. Take the case of prostate cancer, where the cells don’t center on one specific site or lesion. Instead, they spread like seeds throughout the gland, making immune system targeting difficult. Instead of a cure, most cancer researchers talk about better remission rates, as there is always the chance that the cancer may return. Since 1971, we’ve made great progress. 1.7 million deaths have been avoided between 1991 and 2012, according to the American Cancer Society. But many of these are due to the stamping out of smoking, and better screening for breast and prostate cancer. This scourge of …
The new Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s recommendations for prostate cancer screening provide a model for prostate cancer screening that maximizes the benefits, in terms of reduction in prostate cancer-specific mortality, and minimizes harms to men from overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Read the article.
Can adopting a healthier diet help fight prostate cancer? That’s a question men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer often ask their doctors. Investigators have launched a national study to see whether a diet that’s higher in plant-based foods and lower in animal-based foods than the typical Western diet will help control tumor growth in men with early-stage prostate cancer. Read the article.
The author writes about his personal treatment for prostate cancer and what he wished he had known beforehand. Read the article.
The provinces vary substantially with respect to the types of primary treatment received by men with localized low-risk pca. From 2010 to 2013, many men had no record of surgical or radiation treatment within 1 year of diagnosis-a proxy for active surveillance; the proportion ranged from 53.3% in Nova Scotia to 80.8% in New Brunswick. Among men who did receive primary treatment, the use of radical prostatectomy ranged from 12.0% in New Brunswick to 35.9% in Nova Scotia. The use of radiation therapy (external-beam radiation therapy or brachytherapy) ranged from 4.1% in Newfoundland and Labrador to 17.6% in Alberta. Treatment …
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center researchers have demonstrated that the prostate basal cell layer contains self-renewing adult stem cells, with a gene expression profile that overlaps that of aggressive and endocrine therapy-resistant prostate cancers. These results indicate that such cells might be the cells-of-origin in aggressive prostate cancers, and offer a new option for anticancer therapies. Read the article.