Other Treatments Archives - Page 5 of 6 - Sperling Prostate Center

Photodynamic Therapy with TOOKAD®

A new approach to focal treatment for prostate cancer has made its entrance onto the world stage and has patients talking. It is called photodynamic therapy (photo for light, dynamic for action) or PDT. It involves administering a light-sensitive chemical called TOOKAD® by a 10-minute IV injection, which is quickly taken up in the prostate keep reading

Treatment Billboards: Half Truths in Advertising?

A newly available prostate cancer treatment has made Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest not-for-profit health plans, sit up and take notice. On October 4, 2016, the life sciences news service StatNews featured an article by Kaiser News staffer Julie Appleby, “Billboards and Websites Push Costly Prostate Cancer Treatment With Unknown Long-Term Benefits.”[i] The treatment keep reading

Patients Need to Know about Focal Alternatives

One of the most respected robotic surgeons, Dr. David Samadi, is an active online participant, with regular blogs on relevant prostate cancer topics. The New York Daily News recently (Sep. 22, 2016) carried an article by Dr. Samadi, “Prostate Cancer Means Deciding between Surgery or Radiation.”[i] In talking about the necessity of doing research in keep reading

Potential Complications of Cryotherapy

Cryotherapy, or freezing, is a method of destroying prostate cancer by subjecting the prostate gland to the extreme temperature of -40° Celsius. The procedure, done under anesthesia, consists of using ultrasound image guidance to insert thin hollow needles into the prostate gland through the perineum (skin between the scrotum and anus). When argon gas is keep reading

Immunotherapy: Great Hope and Some Disappointment

The challenge to overcome cancer has been around as long as the human race has known about cancer. An Egyptian papyrus from 1600 B.C. identifies cancer and describes removal of a breast tumor by cauterizing (burning) it. The writer notes that there is no known cure for cancer.[i] In modern times, the three main methods keep reading

Concern Regarding Radiation Overuse

Here’s a little quiz: Which whole gland therapy for prostate cancer has the highest risk of recurrence? Radical prostatectomy Radiation therapy Cryotherapy of the whole gland HIFU of the whole gland If you answered radiation, you are correct. According to a recent article, the rate of prostate cancer coming back after conventional external beam radiation keep reading

Post-prostatectomy Rates of ED Have Not Improved

Erectile Function and Prostate Cancer - Sperling Prostate Center

I remember being at a medical convention about 10 years ago and overhearing a conversation between two doctors, specialty unknown, who were speaking positively about Dr. Patrick Walsh’s famous contribution, the nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy (RP). As I later learned, he first applied his technique in 1982, and the patient regained potency about a year after keep reading

What’s the Most Effective Prostate Cancer Treatment?

You’ve probably heard the saying that a camel is a horse that was designed by a committee. It is a comic way of recognizing that groups of people with no unifying vision or systematic communication process are likely to fail at collective design. However, there is an effective antidote. It is an approach to gaining keep reading

Telling the Truth About Post-Radiation Sexual Problems

Radiation treatments for prostate cancer are used in many different forms, both beam radiation and seed implants: EBRT (External Beam Radiation Therapy IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) 3D-CRT (3D Conformal Radiation Therapy) SBRT (Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy) Proton beam Brachytherapy (radioactive seed implants, either permanent or a single treatment of high dose rate brachytherapy, or 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 reading

Category: Other Treatments