Latest and New Treatments for Prostate Cancer Robotic Surgery and Cryosurgery
Are you considering the new treatments for prostate cancer? I will try to give you useful info on these new treatments to help you decide on your options. Cryosurgery and robotic surgery are the latest new treatment options. Both involve a less invasive form of surgery.
First, let's discuss what is cryosurgery form of treatment.
What is cryosurgery?
This is one of the new treatments for prostate cancer. It is also known as cryotherapy and cryoablation.
Cryosurgery is a much less invasive type of surgery because instead of using a scalpel, a freezing process is used to destroy the cancerous prostate gland. No incisions are made and needles are used to administer cryogenic gases (liquid argon and helium gas) in the perineum.
Accuracy in administering the gases is important for the prevention of complications.
What are the steps in cryosurgery?
First, the cancerous gland is subjected to -140 degrees Celsius using argon gas. Ice crystals form inside the cancerous cells until they freeze and are killed.
Then it is warmed using helium gas. The freezing process kills cancerous cells by...
dehydrating them
altering the pH levels inside the gland
preventing the red blood cells from flowing to tumor.
It is also found that when your gland experiences a temperature of -140 degrees Celsius, your body produces anti-bodies that help destroy the tumor.
Cryosurgery is one of the effective new treatments for prostate cancer if...
you have early stage tumor or locally advanced (spread is limited to the outer edge of the gland) and radical prostatectomy is out of the question or
your cancer has recurred after being treated with radiation and it is now resistant to radiation.
Between the two new treatments, cryosurgery may not be suitable if...
you have had prostatectomy and the cancer has returned,
you have severe urinary symptoms or
you have a large prostate gland.
However, hormone therapy can be implemented first to shrink the gland before cryosurgery.
Now let's check out another one of the new treatments: robotic surgery.
What is Robotic Surgery for prostate cancer?
It is also known as robotic laparoscopic prostatectomy. It is one of the latest new treatments. The first robotic surgery was done in 2000.
In robotic surgery, your prostate gland is also surgically removed but it is done through a much smaller incision around your navel.
The surgeon also uses robotic arms which he manipulates using a console (just like a joystick for a video game).
In traditional open surgery, your prostate gland is removed through an incision in your lower abdomen or perineum.
What are the advantages of robotic surgery?
Both the new treatments have similar benefits such as:
You lose less blood during your operation
Your nerve fibers and blood vessels which are needed for healthy sexual functions are protected because your surgeon can move more precisely and with better control
You stay at the hospital for a shorter period of time and
You recover faster compared to the more invasive type of prostatectomy.
But just like the traditional method of surgery, robotic surgery is only intended for early stage prostate cancer.
Both the new treatments - cryosurgery and robotic surgery - lack comparative studies of survival rates. Thus, these latest new treatments for prostate cancer are not as popular as the other treatments yet.
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