1. Men's Health Alert... Prostate Cancer
2. Howard County General Hospital offers New Prostate Cancer Treatment

Often a symptom-free disease, prostate cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer among men, excluding skin cancer. One in five men will develop prostate cancer. As you get older, your chance increases.

According to the American Cancer Society, more than eight out of 10 men with prostate cancer are over the age of 65. African American men are twice as likely to get prostate cancer as Caucasian men.

Your Prostate

urethra, which carries urine from the bladder. A healthy prostate gland is smooth and firm and can be examined by your doctor when performing a rectal exam.

Development and Diagnosis

• Urinary retention or burning
• Post-urination leaking or dribbling
• Abnormal urine color or blood in the urine
• Pain with urination, ejaculation, bowel movement and in the groin or lower back

Testing and Treatment

• Digital rectal examination (DRE) is performed dfiring an office visit with the insertion of the doctor's gloved finger into your rectum to examine the prostate.
• Prostate-specific antigen (PSA)is a simple blood test that measures the level of a protein made by prostate cells. "Your doctor may suggest a trans-rectal ultrasonography, performed by inserting a probe the size of an index finger into your rectum," continues Dr. Rodriguez. The probe emits high-frequency sound waves that bounce off the prostate gland and produce echoes on a sonogram, which your doctor will examine for abnormalities. If prostate cancer is detected, your treatment will be individualized based on your age, general health, extent of its spread, aggressiveness of the cancer, and personal preference. Treatment options include:
• Radical prostatectomy, a procedure offered at Howard County General Hospital, to remove your prostate and attached seminal vesicles, which are two glands that lie behind the prostate and also secrete fluids for semen. A catheter is left in place for several weeks after surgery.
• Radiation therapy to destroy cancer cells with the use of high energy x-rays.
• Brachytherapy, also a procedure offered at Howard County General Hospital, utilizes imaging equipment such as ultrasound, CT scans or MRI to view the prostate three-dimensionally. By doing this, your doctor can accurately position thin needles through the skin and into the prostate to deliver pellets that give off radiation for weeks or months.
• Hormonal therapy suppresses the release of male hormones from the testicles when the cancer has spread outside of the prostate. This can include removal of the testicles.

Lowering Your Risk

amounts of carbohydrates, limit your alcohol consumption and don't smoke. Also, take a reasonable daily dose of vitamin E and limit your intake of high doses of any vitamin supplement. You should exercise on a regular basis, too. If every man were tested annually with a DRE and PSA, deaths from prostate cancer could fall dramatically. "Prostate cancer has been diagnosed more often in the past five years because of the use of the PSA," says Dr. Maurer. Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment are key to survival. Be responsible for your health by undergoing annual screenings for prostate cancer. For further information on prostate cancer, visit www.hcgh.org or www.cancer.org. For a referral to a physician on staff at Howard County General Hospital, call 410-740-7750.

Originally published in Wellness Matters, Spring, 2002

It is as small as a single grain of rice. But the potential benefits to a prostate cancer patient are enormous.

A relatively new prostate cancer treatment, internal radiation therapy or brachytherapy, uses small radioactive pellets that are implanted directly into the prostate to fight localized cancer.

Brachytherapy utilizes imaging equipment such as ultrasound, CT scans, or MRI to view the prostate three-dimensionally. This allows physicians to accurately position radioactive pellets to treat the prostate cancer.

The permanent pellets, sometimes called seeds, are small, metallic objects comprised of radioactive material. They are placed inside thin needles and are then inserted through the skin into the prostate giving off radiation for weeks or months. During brachytherapy, the surgeon can see each needle entering the prostate with the ultrasound, and can guide its exact placement. This form of treatment minimizes radiation to the normal tissues and organs that surround the prostate, allowing more radiation energy to be applied directly to the prostate cancer.

Brachytherapy is performed while the patient is under general or spinal anesthesia and takes about two hours to complete. Patients are only required to spend one day in the hospital following the procedure.

According to Dr. Robert Gessler, a urologist on staff at Howard County General Hospital, "brachytherapy offers the patient the benefits of minimal surgery with minimal complications. Patients experience fewer side effects than traditional radical prostate surgery where the prostate gland is totally removed. With brachytherapy there is less risk of bleeding, incontinence and sexual dysfunction." Since brachytherapy is performed with a needle, there is no incision and thus minimal postoperative discomfort and time required for healing. The patient can usually return to normal activities within 3-4 days.

"Not only is brachytherapy easier for patients to tolerate, " says Dr. Gessler, "but recent clinical data suggests that it appears to be as effective as radical prostate surgery for those with early stages of prostate cancer."

Originally published in Wellness Matters, Summer, 2000

Central Maryland Urology Associates, P.A.

3450 Fort Meade Rd., Suite 207 Laurel, MD 20724 [VIEW MAP] Phone: 301.725.8880 Fax: 301.725.3135

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Columbia Urological Surgery Center
11085 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Suite 207
Columbia, MD 21044
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