The possibility of having incontinence as a side effect from all of the primary prostate cancer treatments is significant. Incontinence is not an either or thing as the degree of incontinence varies from individual to individual. Those men having significant levels of inconvenience find that their quality of life is significantly damaged in some cases [...]
According to researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston Ma., men with aggressive prostate cancer who have radiation therapy to treat the cancer have better overall survival rates when the therapy is given at a high volume treatment facility. Paul Nguyen, MD, a physician researcher in the department of Radiation Oncology at Brigham said, “Our paper shows that [...]
There were many very interesting and very important items presented at the recent ASCO GU conference. Over the course of the next week or two I will be systematically reviewing many of these finds that have a direct impact on men with advanced prostate cancer. Today’s review is about how to create better results for [...]
One of the more common side effects of primary prostate cancer treatment with any form of x-ray or ionizing radiation is known as radiation proctitis and the related radiation colitis. Radiation proctitis is inflammation and damage to surrounding organs and tissue caused by stray radiation. Radiation proctitis most commonly occurs after treatment for many different [...]
Men who are diagnosed with high risk prostate cancer, meaning they are more likely to develop advanced prostate cancer are usually treated with Radiotherapy (RT) and long term androgen blockade (AB). Currently, we do not know what is the optimal duration of AB. Looking at this problem, the researchers conducted a randomized study to compare [...]
A recently published article in Urology Times claims that salvage high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) appears to be an effective treatment option for locally recurrent prostate cancer after primary external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) failure. The study, which this article reported on, used data from analyses of 6-year oncologic outcomes show. When the researchers did a [...]
Men with locally advanced prostate cancer have a better survival chance if they receive radiotherapy along with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). This data was presented at the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2012 conference. Professor Malcom Mason from Whales University discussed a trial he conducted that demonstrated that for a man diagnosed with [...]
A group of researchers just reported positive results of a phase 3 trial showing that the addition of radiation therapy (RT) improves overall survival in men with locally advanced prostate cancer (T3 & T4) to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) alone. The researchers used a sample of 1,057 men with locally advanced (T3 or T4) prostate [...]
Regulators and researchers can only guess how often radiotherapy accidents occur. With no single agency overseeing medical radiation, there is no central clearinghouse of cases. Accidents are chronically under reported, records show, and some states do not require that they be reported at all. […]
I often discuss the use of salvage radiation after surgery has failed and the PSA begins to rise. Although often mentioned, but seldom used, men who fail radiation as a primary treatment can also benefit from salvage surgery. When I first was deciding what to use as my primary treatment modality I was led to [...]
