Download April 2015 - Prostate Cancer Support Group

April 15th
Prostate cancer is not seen as one illness any more, it is an umbrella term covering a broad range of
conditions ranging from totally innocuous to seriously life-threatening. More and more, treatment is being
individualized to the specific patient. What your neighbor or friend had done may not be right for you.
Medical options and medical opinions are changing all the time. It’s important that you, the patient,
educate yourself and know what questions to ask when you meet with your medical professionals.
A report in Renal and Urology News confirms what many prostate cancer patients can attest to:
“Achieving normal erectile function after radical prostatectomy (RP) is a rare event, according to new
research presented at the European Association of Urology 2015 congress in Madrid, Spain”. “What this
work shows is that having an erection as good as before surgery is a rare event, with the vast majority of
men, more than 93% in our sample, experiencing some sexual problems after prostate cancer surgery.”
In another demonstration of support for Active Surveillance over surgery for the appropriate group of
patients, Renal and Urology News also reports that:
“Prostate cancer (PCa) patients with a tumor grade of Gleason 6 or less at the time of radical
prostatectomy (RP) are extremely unlikely to progress to metastatic disease or die from their cancer,
according to a new study published online ahead of print in BJU International. 1,101 consecutive patients
who underwent RP from 1985 and 2013 were followed.
No PCa-related deaths occurred among patients with Gleason 6 or less.”