Prostate Cancer Treatment

According to the American Cancer Society, about 1 in every 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men, second only to lung cancer. About 1 in every 35 men will die of prostate cancer, which amounts to 10% percent. This year, over 192,000 new cases will be diagnosed. Over 27,000 men will die from it.

These are undoubtedly very sobering statistics. But does that mean that a prostate cancer diagnosis is automatically a death sentence? No, says Dr. David B. Samadi, Chief of Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgery at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. More than 2 million American men who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their lifetime are still alive today.

Thanks to innovations in prostate cancer treatment, better patient education and awareness, technology advancements and increased surgical expertise. Men are staying on top of their prostate cancer screenings and learning all they can about the disease and how to treat it.

Maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle, getting exercise and minimizing stress can go a long way in treatment. But the best advice is diligence. This is why Dr. Samadi counsels his patients to consistently partner with their doctors to conduct PSA tests every three to six months, digital rectal exams annually, and repeat biopsies if the PSA starts to rise.

Many options exist to treat prostate cancer nowadays. If caught early enough, the cancer cure rate is over 95% percent. The best option depends on the individual. Many factors must be taken into consideration, including Gleason, PSA and DRE scores, age, health and family history. The best treatment is individualized according to these factors.

Dr. Samadi outlines the available options on his website, www.roboticoncology.com.

The available options include:

• Active surveillance, otherwise known as watchful waiting, whereby a patient monitors their Gleason, PSA and DRE results
• External-Beam radiation, which utilizes high-energy rays to destroy cancer cells or slow their growth
• Brachytherapy, another form of radiation therapy that involves radioactive seeds that are implanted in the prostate to kill cancer cells gradually
• Drug therapies, including hormone therapies that are used to block the cells that cause cancer, which can be combined with radiation therapy
• Robotic prostatectomy, which involves the removal of the prostate gland, via the da Vinci method

With regards to any kind of surgery, many men are hesitant to go this route because of hospitalization and recovery. They also dread the subsequent side effects, which include incontinence and impotence. However this is not the case with robotic prostatectomy. Dr. Samadi has performed over 3,800 successful robotic prostatectomies, using the daVinci Robotic System. The result is a minimally invasive procedure involving less pain, recovery time and blood loss. Most patients go home the next day and recover fairly quickly, with little risk of the side effects mentioned previously, because the delicate nerves have been spared.

Dr. Samadi advocates robotic surgery as one of the best options, particularly for men in there 40s and 50s, because it offers the best chance for long-term survival. “It is only by removing the prostate gland, that we as doctors can accurately determine how much cancer there is and what stage it’s in,” says Dr. Samadi. He continues, “our goal is curing the cancer, preserving continence and sexual function and giving the patient quality of life.”