This New England Journal of Medicine article gives the results of a randomized trial of 3 possible prostate cancer treatments. It is rather long and academic, but shows similar results for the 3 options. Read the article here.
A new form of highly personalised treatment for prostate cancer is showing promise in preserving potency. The new technique, termed “vessel sparing radiation”, preserved erectile function in 80 per cent of men at the five-year follow-up while maintaining excellent cure rates. Read the article.
Technical improvements preserve potency after treatment for prostate cancer Read More »
Studies have shown that radical prostatectomy can improve progression-free and overall survival in patients with lymph node-positive prostate cancer. While this finding requires further validation, it does allow urologists to question the former treatment paradigm of aborting surgery when lymph node invasion from prostate cancer occurred, especially in patients with limited lymph node tumor infiltration. Studies show that intermediate- and high-risk patients should undergo extended pelvic lymph node dissection up to the common iliac arteries in order to improve nodal staging. Read the article.
Extended lymph node dissection in robotic radical prostatectomy Read More »
Not all men with prostate cancer benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy after radical prostatectomy; however, African American men and men with a higher tumor stage may, according to a new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) study. Read the article.
A study evaluated experience with salvage brachytherapy after discovery of biochemical recurrence after a prior brachytherapy procedure. Twenty-one patients treated by brachytherapy within University of Kentucky or from outside centers developed biochemical failure and had no evidence of metastases. Conclusions. Salvage brachytherapy after primary brachytherapy is possible; however, the side-effect profile after the second brachytherapy procedure was higher than after the first brachytherapy procedure. Read the article.
A five-year study shows that Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) to treat prostate cancer offers a higher cure rate than more traditional approaches. The study – the first trial to publish five-year results from SBRT treatment for prostate cancer – found a 98.6 percent cure rate with SBRT, a noninvasive form of radiation treatment that involves high-dose radiation beams entering the body through various angles and intersecting at the desired target. It is a state-of-the-art technology that allows for a concentrated dose to reach the tumor while limiting the radiation dose to surrounding healthy tissue. Read the article.
To examine the feasibility of active surveillance for low volume Gleason sum (GS) 3 + 4 disease compared to GS 3 + 3 disease. Retrospective review of 929 patients, with biopsy proven GS 3 + 3 and 3 + 4 PCa, undergoing upfront radical prostatectomy (RP) was performed. Read the article.
Investigators at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto initiated a study to assess the risk factors for metastases in patients on active surveillance. About three percent of patients on surveillance had metastasis by a median of seven years after diagnosis. This risk increased to ten percent in patients with Gleason score (GS) 7. Read the article.
When elderly men with localized prostate cancer are given androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT), the risk of depression and hospitalization for psychiatric treatment is significantly increased, a population-based study of 78,000 U.S. men showed. Read the article.
ADT May Increase Depression Risk in Prostate Cancer Read More »
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.
Erectile Function Recovery after Radical Prostatectomy in Men with High-Risk Features Read More »