Introduction In the last year or so, I’ve spent quite a bit of time writing about choosing a treatment for prostate cancer, and even more time writing about life after treatment in terms of nerve regeneration and continence. What isn’t often discussed is the actual operation itself, and the several weeks of recovery that follow…
Many of our patients have their prostate cancer diagnosed early, giving them an extremely high chance of a long-term cure with limited side effects, if any. Once they are diagnosed and they have come to terms with their condition, their mind soon turns to the best way to treat it. There is a lot of…
A recent publication in the Lancet of a randomised trial of 326 men (men were assigned randomly to either treatment to minimise biases) of open versus robotic surgery found that cancer control, continence and sexual function 3 months after surgery were similar in the two groups. So, what does this mean in practice? As is often…
One of the most difficult decisions for any man with prostate cancer is deciding what treatment would be best for them. Of course, they take advice from their urologist, but in my experience many also seek out information themselves, looking to established research and charities like Prostate Cancer UK for information on what treatments are…
Updated August 2017 with findings one year later: https://www.santishealth.org/prostate-cancer-information-centre/retzius-sparing-radical-prostatectomy-one-year-on/ In this post, I want to talk about a new technique in radical prostatectomy that I have been practising in my operations for some time now. As my patient results come in and considering other published results using the technique, it’s becoming clear that this technique –…
Introduction Unlike taking Viagra before a prostatectomy (where there is little proof of a benefit to erections after a prostatectomy), taking Viagra after a prostatectomy (or other tablets from the same Viagra family) is a key part of the recovery process for men to re-attain their erections. In short, the increased blood flow to the…
Introduction I often have patients ask if they should be taking Viagra before a prostatectomy to improve their potency after the operation, and if there are any benefits to it. My own experience (which is to be backed up by other scientific research on the matter) is that there is mostly no benefit to taking…
One of the greatest concerns voiced by uninsured patients who choose to pay for surgery themselves (‘self-funding’) is ‘if I have prostate surgery privately will the NHS look after me afterwards?’ The answer is unequivocally ‘yes’. The NHS is very flexible in this regard – if you are a UK (or EU, at least for…
Introduction Occasionally I have patients coming to see me to enquire about surgery after HIFU treatment has not cured their cancer completely. In some cases, it comes back quite aggressively, so I wanted to write this article to explain what can be done for such patients and what the prognosis can be. How HIFU works…
The concept of prostate cancer recurrence after prostatectomy puzzles many patients. A frequently asked question is ‘how can the cancer come back if the prostate has been removed?’ The explanation is that, as with any cancer, if cancerous cells migrate out of the organ in which they arose before the organ is removed (or treated…
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