As you may have been reading over the last year or so, there is a continuing controversy about the utility of PSA when used as a screening tool for prostate cancer. Almost exactly one year ago, we discussed PSA in this blog. Given the continuing questions and arguments, I thought it would be prudent to revisit the issue. The… read more

We (Sinai Hospital Radiation Oncology in conjunction with Advanced Urology Associates) have now been performing Cyberknife Stereotactic Radiosurgery (CK SRS) for prostate cancer for just over 18 months. There have been over 50 men in that time that have had their prostate cancer treated by CK SRS. And while it is too early to make any judgements about the… read more

Todays blog is going to start the discussion about the use of Cyberknife to treat prostate cancer. Because this is such a new and interesting modality to treat prostate cancer, I am going to break up the discussion into at least two sessions. The first will introduce the method of treatment and the particulars of the treatment itself. Further… read more

I realize that it has been awhile since my last post but now that the new year has started, my goal is to post a couple of times a month. Today the health discussion is more on a spiritual level than physical level. On the 10th of November my mother Sylvia “Mickey” Leventhal Weinberg suffered a massive cerebellar stroke.… read more

Prostate seed implantation is a highly successful treatment option for localized prostate cancer. Over the last twelve years, it has become one of my preferred methods of treating prostate cancer. During that time I have personally performed almost three hundred seed implantations in conjunction with a radiation oncologist. Seed implantation (also call prostate brachytherapy) is typically performed as an… read more

We have discussed radical prostatectomy and are now in the midst of discussing radiation therapy as definitive treatment for prostate cancer. I’d like to take a break from discussing specific treatments today in order to discuss complications and side effects of prostate cancer treatment in general. In our next discussion we will address specific types of radiation therapy treatments.… read more

Today’s discussion will open the topic of radiation therapy as definitive treatment for prostate cancer. Just as there are multiple ways to perform extirpative surgery, there are also multiple ways of treating prostate cancer with radiation. What differs between them is that extirpative surgery removes the prostate irrespective of the approach, whereas the multiple methods of radiation therapy differ… read more

Today’s discussion regarding prostate cancer will address surgical removal of the prostate. Other treatment options will be addressed at a later date. Radical prostatectomy implies removal of the prostate and seminal vesicles with reattachment of the bladder to the urethra. It can be performed in multiple fashions including open retropubic (abdominal incision), perineal (subscrotal incision), laparoscopic and robotic fashion.… read more

Thanks to all the wonderful comments on the last blog. We obviously disagree on the Presidents version of good medicine. Looks like the majority of America disagrees with the President as well. As far as access is concerned the 44 million number bandied about by the left includes millions of illegal immigrants, those who refuse to buy healthcare, and… read more

Today we start the process of evaluating your prostate cancer and making a decision on how best to treat it. For now at least you have options. For those unfortunate men in Canada, the UK and anywhere else where socialized medicine is the norm, you get what they tell you they will pay for. Think about that closely when… read more