Have you received the prostate cancer diagnosis? If yes, you may have probably been taken aback, felt distressed or even depressed. These feelings are absolutely normal, taking into account that we all love life and do our best to care for it.
The present article is here to lower your panic and provide accurate and reliable information about what to expect after a prostate cancer diagnosis. Dr. David Samadi, Urologic Oncology Expert at St. Francis Hospital, New York, explains what the latest studies reveal about the best conduct after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Important facts about prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is that type of disease that has a slow progression rate and may give no significant symptoms. This is the reason why many men are being thunderstruck when receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis.
Also, you need to know that there are different stages of prostate cancer. Some prostate cancers are discovered at their incipient stages, when they may need minimal or even no treatment. Cancers that are discovered at a more advanced stage, are usually more aggressive and can spread quickly.
If you are one of the readers of this article who was not diagnosed with prostate cancer, Dr. Samadi recommends having prostate cancer screening regularly. It is already widely known that early-stage prostate cancer does not cause significant symptoms and screening has the goal of discovering cancer before it is spread. It is recommended to begin your prostate screening with a PSA test.
If you are one of the many men in America diagnosed with prostate cancer, it is a matter of the utmost importance to know the exact stage of your cancer in order to decide what action path to follow.
What to do if you have been diagnosed with localized prostate cancer
If after following all the recommended tests, your doctor tells you that you have localized prostate cancer, this means your cancer has not spread outside the prostate gland. You probably have few or no symptoms. It is worth knowing that there are many treatments for localized prostate cancer. Doctors usually recommend surgery or radiation therapy but the latest studies conducted over a 10-year period revealed that the active surveillance approach proved to be effective for many men diagnosed with prostate cancer.
What does active surveillance mean?
Active surveillance differs from watchful waiting, representing the close monitoring of the prostate gland at regular checkups. During the active surveillance period, the doctor may perform different types of tests in order to establish if there are any abnormal changes concerning prostate cancer. Compared to the watchful waiting approach, the active surveillance results are not based merely on the symptoms’ changes but on the tests that are regularly performed, such as the digital rectal exam, the PSA blood test, biopsy or other available tests used to monitor the cancer growth.
Only if the tests reveal that cancer starts to grow, the doctor will discuss the treatment options suitable for your particular condition.
What do studies show about active surveillance?
The active surveillance approach is being widely accepted as an alternative option for treating prostate cancer. During the last 10 years, many Urologist Experts adopted the active surveillance, considering it an effective alternative to conventional prostate cancer treatments that are, in some cases, unnecessary.
Researchers who published a 10-year study on prostate cancer showed that men who adopted the active surveillance approach did not experience a higher mortality rate than the ones who underwent a surgical treatment or a type of radiation therapy.
You need to remember, the active surveillance is effective only if the cancer is low-grade and newly diagnosed.
These positive results of active surveillance in men with early-stage cancer made this approach a common option on the list of localized prostate cancer treatments.
If you are thinking of adopting this approach, contact your doctor for customized advice.
What are the typical treatment options for prostate cancer?
It is important to know that there are surgical and non-surgical prostate cancer treatments.
Dr. Samadi is performing a superior surgical prostate cancer treatment, which is the robotic prostate surgery, using the da Vinci robotic system.
Also, the Samadi Modified Advanced Robotic Technique (SMART) Surgery is an innovative, robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) technique.
These surgical treatments proved a success rate of almost 100%.
The non-surgical prostate cancer treatments are:
- The prostate cancer hormone therapy
- Prostate Cancer Radiation
- The CyberKnife
- HIFU (High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound), which is an experimental prostate cancer treatment that is not FDA approved yet.
If you are now balancing all the pros and cons of the many prostate cancer treatments available, do not forget to consider the active surveillance approach. Gather all the facts, get thoroughly informed about the treatment options and decide based on your personal condition.
If you want to benefit from professional advice, book an appointment with Dr. David Samadi!
