One in six men in the United States will develop prostate cancer at some point in their lives, making this cancer second in prevalence only to skin cancer. Lahey urologists have led the way in developing open and minimally invasive treatments for prostate cancer, drastically improving quality of life for those who undergo treatment for the disease.
Surgical Treatment of Prostate Cancer
Urologists at the Prostate Center perform surgeries using open, traditional laparoscopic and robot-assisted laparoscopic techniques. Among the treatments offered are radical prostatectomy, or surgical removal of the prostate, and pelvic lymph node dissection, whereby the regional lymph nodes of the prostate are removed.
Lahey surgeons have worked to modify open and laparoscopic procedures and combine techniques in order to better preserve tissues that are critical to continence and sexual function.
Patients with cancers that have not spread beyond the prostate may be candidates for "nerve-sparing" prostatectomy, whereby the prostate gland is removed without disturbing the nerve bundles that are responsible for sexual function. In cases where cancer has spread to both nerve bundles, Lahey urologists are researching the benefit of transplanting the sural nerve from the patient's calf to the prostate area to replace the resected nerves.
Medical Treatments for Prostate Cancer
Prostate Center physicians work together with patients in a clinical environment to decide whether one of the following options might be an alternative to or used in conjunction with surgery:
- Brachytherapy (radioactive seed implants)
- High-dose rate brachytherapy
- Hormone therapy
- Medical management (i.e., "watchful waiting")
- External beam radiation therapy
- Transurethral needle ablation
