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Specialist clinics


10 MARCH 2019 • HEALTHCARE INNOVATIONS


PATIENT HAVING AN MRI SCAN AS SEEN FROM THE RADIOGRAPHER’S WINDOW: THE NEW PATHWAY FOR DIAGNOSING AND TREATING PROSTATE CANCER STARTS WITH AN MRI SCAN


Innovation brings good news to those affected by prostate cancer


Prostate cancer is the third-largest cancer killer in the UK. According to Prostate Cancer UK, one in eight men in the UK will be diagnosed with the disease, and 16% of those diagnosed will have prostate cancer in an advanced stage


Occurring mainly in older men, pros- tate cancer will affect increasingly more people as the population ages. But, there’s good news about pros- tate cancer. New approaches to diag- nostics and treatments — pioneered here in the UK — are becoming more widely available. “One of


the interesting things


about prostate cancer is that it’s an area of constant innovation,” says Marc Laniado, consultant urologist at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust. “We have new techniques for diagnosis, we have new ways of iden- tifying men with serious disease that need treatment and those that don’t, and we have new ways of treating the disease which can eradicate the cancer, reduce the chance of dying and preserve aspects of men’s lives that are important to them — such as sexual and urinary function. It’s an extremely exciting and innovative area of healthcare and for men that have been diagnosed with prostate


cancer there’s tremendous hope that they’ll be able to live out the disease with fewer problems than their fathers or grandfathers possibly did in the past.” Clinical trials conducted here in


the UK have led the world in what Raj Nigam, consultant urologist at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, describes as a ‘paradigm shift’ in the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer. “Traditionally, if a man was


worried about prostate cancer, he’d have a rectal examination and a blood test for a PSA (prostate specific antigen level),” explains Raj. “If this was found to be elevated he’d be referred to a specialist such as myself who’d then propose a biopsy of the prostate. Tat traditional route was carried out through the rectum, which often resulted in a lot of post-operative symptoms, such as bleeding, and relatively serious rates of infection of between 2% and 3%. Tis would sometimes even leave people in hospital. It was also a highly inaccurate test.” Raj has been instrumental in


WE HAVE NEW TECHNIQUES FOR DIAGNOSIS, AND WE HAVE NEW WAYS OF IDENTIFYING MEN WITH SERIOUS DISEASE THAT NEED TREATMENT AND THOSE THAT DON’T


developing a new diagnostic pathway that starts with an MRI scan. “Now, we have much more precise ways of diagnosing prostate cancer. An MRI scan of a man with an elevated PSA level can reveal areas on the pros- tate that are potentially cancerous and which require biopsy to confirm, as well as areas that are inflamed or infected, but not likely to be cancerous. Tis means that the MRI scan can spare up to 30% of men the


PROSTATE BIOPSY — A TARGETED BIOPSY ENSURES A PRECISE DIAGNOSIS OF PROSTATE CANCER


The Prostate Experts exist to give all men worried about prostate cancer independent, objective advice on their situation and affordable and timely access to the latest innovations in prostate cancer diagnostics and treatment. prostateexperts.org


need for a biopsy, and for those that need it, it allows for a safer and more accurate biopsy of the prostate.” In addition to providing a diag-


nostic ‘roadmap’, the MRI scan underpins targeted treatments for prostate cancer. Tim Dudderidge, consultant urologist at Univer- sity Hospital


Southampton NHS


Foundation Trust, is a dedicated pioneer in the use of focal therapies for men with early-stage prostate cancer. “Focal therapy broadly relates to the treatment of a part of the prostate, usually through a process called High Intensity Focused Ultra- sound, or HIFU,” explains Tim. “Tis involves targeting the area of the


prostate that has cancerous cells with a form of intense heat. Te aim of this approach is to treat only the part of the prostate gland that contains cancer, thus sparing the normal prostate and having a much higher chance of preventing many of the side effects associated with more radical forms of treatment.”


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