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Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWith Men\u2019s Health Week approaching, it is a good time to encourage open discussions about various health conditions, particularly prostate health.<\/p>\n
Driven by embarrassment, misconceptions, and a lack of awareness, delays in diagnosis can increase the risk of cancer spreading.<\/p>\n
This could potentially mean treatments such as prostatectomies, which involve surgery on the prostate gland, are required. <\/p>\n
However, according to Dr. Chris Ogden, a leading robotic surgeon and urologist at HCA Healthcare UK, prostatectomies have evolved significantly.<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>A prostatectomy is a procedure on the prostate gland that someone with prostate cancer may have to undergo (PA)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
What should men know about prostate cancer treatment?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\u201cFirst of all I think it\u2019s important for men to realise that many patients diagnosed with prostate cancer don\u2019t need any treatment at all,\u201d Odgen says. \u201cIf they have low-risk disease, then the recommendation would be for simply active surveillance or monitoring with regular blood tests and integral MRIs.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, if treatment is needed, there are good alternatives to radical prostatectomy in certain men with certain cancers. This includes treatments like focal therapy using different energy sources such as sound waves or high-intensity focused ultrasound.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although these treatments have \u201crelatively low impact\u201d, he says, they are suitable for certain types of cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere the cancer is involving both sides of the prostate and is intermediate or high risk, then surgery is highly appropriate. [But] radical prostatectomy has moved from an open, quite hazardous operation to a much more controlled, low or minimal access treatment in the form of robotic prostatectomy,\u201d Odgen explains.<\/p>\n
What is a robotic prostatectomy?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\u201cA radical robotic prostatectomy is the removal of the whole prostate with seminal vesicles intact, which is exclusively carried out when significant cancer is involved in more than one area of the prostate.\u201d<\/p>\n