Comments on: How to Best Treat Prostate Cancer – Is It Still A Matter of Great Debate?

By: Aguila

Aguila — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 05:49:41 +0000

Mr. Feinberg notes accurately that there are different surgical approaches. Most recent studies however feel that the two procedures in the proper hands have good comparable results. Dr. Patrick Walsh has done many of the traditional surgeries and I believe most would agree that his results including short hospital stay and preservation of sexual function are excellent. The short answer is no one should avoid testing for prostate cancer due to fear of the treatment side effects. With the techniques of today most patients can look forward to a full recovery with minimal impact on their quality of life from treatment that hopefully eradicates a life threatening malignancy….

By: concernedMD

concernedMD — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:20:41 +0000

By: Joe Chappell

Joe Chappell — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:11:28 +0000

Another viable treatment is Proton Therapy, a form of radiation treatment that doesn’t have the high incidence of negative outcomes associated with either radical prostatectomy or standard photon therapy. This treatment has been approved since approximately 1991. My father received proton therapy in 1992 and had no reccurance of his cancer prior to his death in 2004 from a stroke. I am currently receiving this treatment option at Loma Linda University Medical Center in California, but there are several other centers around the country (i.e. MD Anderson in Houston). In my opinion this treatment option doesn’t receive nearly enough publicity, so this is my shot at doing so.

By: alan feinberg

alan feinberg — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:21:21 +0000

It should be noted that there are two types of surgery and they have similar results but very different recoveries. Traditional radical prostatectectomy results in extensive blood loss and incontinence and usually permanent sexual problems. Robotic prostatectomy has very minimal blood loss, only an overnight hospital stay, tiny incisions instead of a large incision and urinating and sexual issues are minimized due to more precision than the traditional surgical method. Incontinence and sexual ability return and recovery time is very quick for most patients. Nerves necessary for sexual performance are spared in this procedure.