Prostate cancer is the most common solid malignancy in men. It can be seen in up to 40-50% of men as they approach 90 years of age. There are various stages and grades of prostate cancer, which is important to note, because each stage can determine whether and how a tumor should be treated.
Together with the patient, the physician helps create an individualized treatment plan based on diagnosis.
One type of treatment for prostate cancer involves destroying the cancer by freezing it with cryotherapy. This is done almost always as an outpatient procedure, and it is minimally invasive with minimal discomfort. Cryo-probes or freezing needles are inserted in the prostate and the perineum, allowing the gland to become an ice ball that can be seen on ultrasound at a temperature up to -40°C. At the same time during the process, the urethra is protected with a warmer, and we do continuous monitoring of the temperature around the rectum to protect the tissue.
We frequently use this procedure for people who have not experienced success with radiation therapy, since major salvage surgery afterward is quite risky and can be associated with more complications.
The most common side affects of cryoablation are erectile dysfunction and urinary leakage. For the most part, patients who require salvage cryoablation of the prostate after radiation already have a significant degree of erectile dysfunction. The risk of urinary leakage after previous radiation is higher than patients who have not had radiation before cryoablation, but is not very common.
Patients are usually discharged the same day with a catheter that remains in place 5-7 days as needed.
Updated for Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, September 2024! Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is an enzyme secreted by the prostate gland, a small walnut-shaped organ surrounding the urethra in the lower urinary tract. PSA is produced in small amounts in the blood of men with healthy prostates, but an elevated PSA may signal the presence of prostate […]
Millions of men in the United States have an enlarged prostate, a condition that becomes even more common with age. In fact, studies estimate about half of men over 50 years of age have an enlarged prostate, and that number soars to as high as 90 percent for men aged 80 years and older. Causes […]
Men with compromised sexual function or who reach middle age and want to optimize their bodies may have heard of men’s clinics offering P-shots, also known as Priapus shots. These are shots of platelet-rich plasma or PRP harvested from the man’s own body and injected back into the penis. Proponents of P-shots name many possible […]
