thomasdevos
10-05-2009, 09:58 PM
Update on prostate cancer and cryotherapy
The prostate is a gland the size of a walnut which is attached to the bottom of the bladder, deep in the male pelvis. The prostate surrounds the urethra as it flows from the bladder, and several pipes that run between the prostate gland and urethra allow prostatic secretions to be expelled into the urethra at the ejaculation. The prostatic secretions, which constitute about 20 percent of semen volume, helping to create the optimum chemical environment for sperm to thrive and move into the female genital tract, thereby enhancing the function of sperm.
Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer occurring in men and the second most common cause of cancer death in men. In 2009, an estimated 192,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed and approximately 27,000 men will die of this disease. Prostate cancer affects 1 of every 6 American men during their lifetime, and represents 25 percent of all cancers diagnosed in men (similar to the percentage of cases of breast cancer among all cancer cases diagnosed in women). As for the vast majority of cases of breast cancer, most prostate cancers seem to be encouraged to grow and spread by sex hormones produced by the gonads (and, more specifically, by testosterone and other androgens produced by the testes and other tissues of the body).
Almost exactly a year ago I wrote about the emergence of cryoablation as a treatment for prostate cancer (cancer of the prostate and Cryoablation). Cryoablation uses thin probe to freeze the tumor and surrounding normal tissue, and it has been proposed as an alternative to surgery or radiotherapy to treat prostate cancer. In July 2008, I noted that in many respects, the cryoablation seemed to compare favorably with surgery and radiotherapy, although the incidence of impotence seems to be much higher with cryoablation as the standard treatment against the prostate cancer. I also noted at the time, there was no prospective, randomized clinical research data available with which to make a credible and direct comparison between cryoablation and other more established treatments for cancer prostate. Now, a new cryoablation prospective, randomized clinical trial comparing radiotherapy has presented its first results in the journal Cancer.
In this Canadian study, 244 men with newly diagnosed cancer of the prostate localized to the prostate were randomly assigned to undergo either radiation treatment or standard external beam cyroablation. These volunteers from prostate cancer were then followed for 3 years after completing their treatment. Because it is still too early to draw conclusions about cancer recurrence and survival in this group of patients with prostate cancer, this preliminary report discusses the quality of life issues related to these two forms of therapy cancer.
Men who underwent cryoablation reported more difficulties in urination as men who were treated early after radiation treatment, although these symptoms have disappeared with time. The cryotherapy group also reported significantly higher rates of impotence long term compared with men who received radiotherapy. In fact, 3 years after treatment, we observed a frequency of 13 per cent higher in moderate to severe sexual dysfunction among the cryotherapy group of men from the group of radiotherapy.
Preliminary results of this prospective, randomized clinical trial research indicates that the main long-term quality of life difference between cryotherapy and radiotherapy is a significantly higher incidence of long-term sexual dysfunction after cryotherapy.
As I concluded in my last update of cryotherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer, a year ago, the long-term benefits and risks of this form of treatment are not fully understood at this time as we lack mature long-term, prospective, randomized clinical research data necessary to make prudent decisions about this treatment modality. Besides a higher incidence of sexual dysfunction after cryotherapy, it is still too early to say whether the results long-term survival with cryotherapy compare favorably with radiotherapy and surgery. Therefore, for now, I can only recommend cryotherapy for prostate cancer if it is a trial conducted in approved clinical research. Stay tuned for additional updates on this as they become available<br />
________________________________________
Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity<br />
________________________________________
Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, professor of surgery, a widely published author and a surgical oncologist at the system of health care Kaiser Permanente in Orange County, California
________________________________________
Reference Site:
prostate cancer treatment (http://prostate-cancer-treatment-cure.com)
prostatecancerfoundation (http://www.prostatecancerfoundation.org)
en.wikipedia.org (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostate_cancer)
www.cancer.gov (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/prostate)
neworiental (http://www.neworiental.org/publish/portal0/tab1127/info377702.htm)
The prostate is a gland the size of a walnut which is attached to the bottom of the bladder, deep in the male pelvis. The prostate surrounds the urethra as it flows from the bladder, and several pipes that run between the prostate gland and urethra allow prostatic secretions to be expelled into the urethra at the ejaculation. The prostatic secretions, which constitute about 20 percent of semen volume, helping to create the optimum chemical environment for sperm to thrive and move into the female genital tract, thereby enhancing the function of sperm.
Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer occurring in men and the second most common cause of cancer death in men. In 2009, an estimated 192,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed and approximately 27,000 men will die of this disease. Prostate cancer affects 1 of every 6 American men during their lifetime, and represents 25 percent of all cancers diagnosed in men (similar to the percentage of cases of breast cancer among all cancer cases diagnosed in women). As for the vast majority of cases of breast cancer, most prostate cancers seem to be encouraged to grow and spread by sex hormones produced by the gonads (and, more specifically, by testosterone and other androgens produced by the testes and other tissues of the body).
Almost exactly a year ago I wrote about the emergence of cryoablation as a treatment for prostate cancer (cancer of the prostate and Cryoablation). Cryoablation uses thin probe to freeze the tumor and surrounding normal tissue, and it has been proposed as an alternative to surgery or radiotherapy to treat prostate cancer. In July 2008, I noted that in many respects, the cryoablation seemed to compare favorably with surgery and radiotherapy, although the incidence of impotence seems to be much higher with cryoablation as the standard treatment against the prostate cancer. I also noted at the time, there was no prospective, randomized clinical research data available with which to make a credible and direct comparison between cryoablation and other more established treatments for cancer prostate. Now, a new cryoablation prospective, randomized clinical trial comparing radiotherapy has presented its first results in the journal Cancer.
In this Canadian study, 244 men with newly diagnosed cancer of the prostate localized to the prostate were randomly assigned to undergo either radiation treatment or standard external beam cyroablation. These volunteers from prostate cancer were then followed for 3 years after completing their treatment. Because it is still too early to draw conclusions about cancer recurrence and survival in this group of patients with prostate cancer, this preliminary report discusses the quality of life issues related to these two forms of therapy cancer.
Men who underwent cryoablation reported more difficulties in urination as men who were treated early after radiation treatment, although these symptoms have disappeared with time. The cryotherapy group also reported significantly higher rates of impotence long term compared with men who received radiotherapy. In fact, 3 years after treatment, we observed a frequency of 13 per cent higher in moderate to severe sexual dysfunction among the cryotherapy group of men from the group of radiotherapy.
Preliminary results of this prospective, randomized clinical trial research indicates that the main long-term quality of life difference between cryotherapy and radiotherapy is a significantly higher incidence of long-term sexual dysfunction after cryotherapy.
As I concluded in my last update of cryotherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer, a year ago, the long-term benefits and risks of this form of treatment are not fully understood at this time as we lack mature long-term, prospective, randomized clinical research data necessary to make prudent decisions about this treatment modality. Besides a higher incidence of sexual dysfunction after cryotherapy, it is still too early to say whether the results long-term survival with cryotherapy compare favorably with radiotherapy and surgery. Therefore, for now, I can only recommend cryotherapy for prostate cancer if it is a trial conducted in approved clinical research. Stay tuned for additional updates on this as they become available<br />
________________________________________
Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity<br />
________________________________________
Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, professor of surgery, a widely published author and a surgical oncologist at the system of health care Kaiser Permanente in Orange County, California
________________________________________
Reference Site:
prostate cancer treatment (http://prostate-cancer-treatment-cure.com)
prostatecancerfoundation (http://www.prostatecancerfoundation.org)
en.wikipedia.org (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostate_cancer)
www.cancer.gov (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/prostate)
neworiental (http://www.neworiental.org/publish/portal0/tab1127/info377702.htm)