Not every prostate cancer patient needs surgery. Identifying the cancer type, the state, stage and progression with correct and accurate diagnosis of the tumor cells is a best way to assess a better and safe treatment plan aside from surgery.
According to Hindustan Times, Prostate cancer is a slow-progress disease which means that men usually die with it and not because of it. The mainstay of prostate cancer screening which is the PSA blood test actually gives false positive result and confusion in the latter part.
Furthermore, biopsy tissue samples were also discovered to give fail accuracy on the diagnosis of cancer. One study has proven that 35 percent of prostate cancers failed to be diagnosed accurately on the context of "first patient biopsy". With these recent issues, a patient with prostate cancer should not jump into the surgery room without accurate and correct diagnosis.
A new approach called "fusion biopsy" can be a way to provide precise prostate cancer diagnosis. The method is a synergy of traditional and new technologies that merges the images from MRI to ultrasound. In "fusion biopsy", tumorous lesions can be identified using a software program and further analysis to achieve more trusted results.
On the other hand, according to the article of Dr. Chris Parker published in Daily Mail, surgery with prostate cancer patients is not always the best treatment. Almost men who have undergone surgery with prostate tumor suffer from complications such as; slight incontinence or even worst permanent erectile dysfunction. These complications may also contribute to the patient's ego of being "masculine".
A trial that began on 1994 has proven that surgery does not always improve survival. In the PIVOT clinical study in 1994, 731 men were diagnosed with cancer. Half of the men underwent surgery known as "radical prostatectomy" and the others patiently waited with no immediate treatment.
The patients who have not undergone surgery were given hormonal therapy just to address the symptoms of the disease. Surprisingly, the patients who have undergone surgery were no more likely to survive compared to some who just received the said therapy.
With proper state of mind and outlook in life, one can safely decide whether to have a surgery or not. Proper health care professional and medical guidance is needed to achieve a better outcome and best quality of life.
