Prostate health: What men should know

Prostate cancer often causes no symptoms in its early stages, making conversations about screening especially important. Jaschar Shakuri-Rad, DO, FACOS, Medical Director of Robotic Surgery at Vandalia Health Mon Medical Center, answers common questions about prostate health, when to discuss screening with a physician and advances in treatment.

 

What are some reasons patients identify for putting off prostate cancer screening?

One of the biggest challenges with prostate cancer is that it is often a silent disease in its early stages. Men may feel perfectly healthy and assume there is no reason to be screened. Unfortunately, waiting for symptoms can mean waiting until the cancer is more advanced. That is why appropriate screening is so important. Our goal is to identify prostate cancer early, when it is most treatable and patients have the greatest number of treatment options.

 

What symptoms should patients never ignore when it comes to prostate health?

Men should not ignore blood in the urine, new or worsening difficulty urinating, loss of urinary control or other significant changes in urinary function. These symptoms do not necessarily mean cancer, but they deserve evaluation because they can sometimes be associated with prostate cancer, bladder cancer or other important urologic conditions. When something changes, it is better to have it evaluated early.

 

Have there been any changes in treatment that patients may not be aware of?

Prostate cancer care has advanced tremendously. We now have better imaging, blood tests, biomarkers and targeted diagnostic techniques that can help us identify clinically significant cancers while avoiding unnecessary biopsies in some patients.

Treatment has also become increasingly precise and minimally invasive. For appropriately selected patients, we can often treat prostate cancer with techniques designed not only to cure the cancer but also to minimize the impact on urinary control, sexual function, recovery time and overall quality of life.

The key is early detection. Finding prostate cancer while it is still localized gives us the greatest opportunity to provide effective treatment with the least impact on the patient.

 

What benefits may patients experience from single-port robotic surgery compared with other approaches?

Single-port robotic surgery represents one of the newest advances in minimally invasive prostate cancer surgery. Instead of using several separate abdominal access points, the technology allows us to perform complex robotic surgery through a highly focused surgical approach.

More importantly, the single-port platform allows us to use specialized techniques tailored to an individual patient's anatomy and cancer. In selected patients, approaches such as transvesical robotic prostatectomy may help accelerate recovery of urinary control and reduce some of the traditional side effects associated with prostate cancer surgery.

Our program was the first in West Virginia to introduce single-port robotic surgery in urology, and we have developed extensive experience with these advanced techniques. In our experience with appropriately selected transvesical prostatectomy patients, more than half never experience urinary incontinence following surgery.

Our goal is not simply to remove the cancer. It is to provide the most precise and least disruptive treatment possible so patients can return to their lives quickly and with the best possible quality of life.

We routinely have surgeons from across the U.S. and internationally come and watch us operate to learn our techniques. Many surgeons from WVU, UPMC and other local academic centers have visited us to learn more about our approach to single port surgery.

 

Have there been any recent changes to screening guidelines that patients should be aware of?

Prostate cancer screening is becoming increasingly personalized based on a man's age, health, family history and individual risk factors.

For many men, the conversation about PSA screening should begin by approximately age 50. Men at higher risk — including those with a strong family history of prostate cancer and Black/African American men — should discuss screening earlier, often beginning in their 40s.

Age alone should also not necessarily determine when screening stops. A healthy man with a meaningful life expectancy may still benefit from screening later in life. The most important step is having an individualized conversation with your physician about your personal risk.

 

Is there a significant difference in prostate cancer rates in West Virginia compared with other states or regions?

Prostate cancer remains one of the most common cancers affecting men both nationally and here in West Virginia. Approximately 1 in 8 men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death among men in the United States, behind lung cancer. That is why it is important to talk with your physician about screening before symptoms appear. When prostate cancer is found early, it is often highly treatable and may be cured.

The message for West Virginia men is simple: prostate cancer is common, it frequently causes no symptoms early on, and it is often highly treatable when detected early. Taking a few minutes to discuss screening with your physician can make an enormous difference.

 

For more information on prostate health or how to schedule a prostate cancer screening, visit MonHealth.com/Urology.

Related Physicians

• Shakuri-Rad, Jaschar, DO, FACOS