Learning about Prostate Cancer
- Race car driver Scott Bloomquist, 59, is planning to have prostate cancer surgery on July 5. His disease was reportedly caught early while doctors were preparing him for a corrective operation on his back.
- There are several different options when considering prostate cancer surgery, and you can either have a traditional open surgery or laparoscopic surgery, with the latter being more common nowadays.
- Surgery for prostate cancer may cause side effects, so it's important to talk to your doctor about those before making a decision. Most men will have temporary leakage or erectile dysfunction, but the vast majority will regain nearly normal function in both areas with time.
- And there are methods to manage these symptoms. For example, there are medications that can aid in sustaining erections, such as Viagra, Cialis and Levitra.
- The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) says “men who are 55 to 69 years old should make individual decisions about being screened for prostate cancer with a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test.“
- Patients are encouraged to talk with their doctor about what a screening plan should look like for them based on their individual risk level.
Bloomquist recently shared that prostate cancer was found while doctors were preparing him for a corrective operation on his back. Thankfully, he says the disease was caught early and he expects to make a full recovery with surgery and other treatment.
Read MoreExpert Prostate Cancer Info
“Ok friends after my phone blowing up today scott has only prostate cancer and is gonna have it removed on July 5th he’s not in any surgery today,” Roberts wrote. “[His] back will be [evaluated] at a later date after his prostate surgery but he’s fine and in good spirits so prayer for and we’ll be back racing full force ASAP we’re not done!!!!”
Learning About Prostate Cancer Surgery
There are several different options when considering prostate cancer surgery. You can either have a traditional open surgery or laparoscopic surgery, with the latter being more common nowadays.
The main difference between these two approaches is that traditional surgery requires a surgeon to make a large incision, whereas laparoscopic surgery offers a smaller incision and a shorter recovery time.
An Overview of Prostate Cancer Surgery
A newer surgical approach called robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP), or robotic surgery, allows surgeons to make small incisions with more precision.
RELATED: How to Choose a Surgeon Does Volume Matter?
Surgery Side Effects
Surgery for prostate cancer may cause side effects, so it's important to talk to your doctor about those before making a decision. Most men will have temporary leakage or erectile dysfunction, but the vast majority will regain nearly normal function in both areas with time.
RELATED: Don't Believe the Hype: Do Your Own Research on Prostate Cancer Treatment
In addition, men undergoing surgery for prostate cancer should know that shrinking of the penis is also a potential for side effect for some.
But there are methods available to manage these side effects.
There are medications currently on the market that can aid in sustaining erections, such as Viagra, Cialis and Levitra.
There are also treatments such as penile injections and vacuum erectaid devices (VED), as well as the option of a penile prosthesis.
Dr. Stephen Freedland, Director of the Center for Integrated Research in Cancer and Lifestyle at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, says when it comes to prothesis there are two main options:
An inflatable prosthesis that is placed in the scrotum or a bendable plastic prosthesis. According to Dr. Freedland, most men who decide to go this route report being extremely happy with the outcome.
“You wake up from the surgery with a catheter in your bladder,” Dr. Stephen Freedland, Director of the Center for Integrative Research in Cancer and Lifestyle at Cedars-Sinai, said of prostate cancer surgery. “Once you’re home, it’s really just recovering, gaining your strength back.
“The catheter comes out about 10 days after surgery. Whether you have it open or robotic, I tell patients it’s probably a good month or so until you’re really getting back to yourself.”
RELATED: Preserving Sexual Function: Ask Your Surgeon About Nerve-Sparing
Your doctor may also be able to recommend treatments or methods such as exercise to help manage potential side effects from surgery.
“The vast majority of people get to a point where they don’t really need pads or diapers or anything for leakage, but a sizable percentage of patients do,” Dr. Freedland explained. “Other challenge with surgery is you have two nerves that give you an erection. And those nerves run right along the side of the prostate.
“So as we remove the prostate, our goal is not to damage those nerves, but they get pulled. They get tugged. They don’t work right, perfectly, right after surgery, but again, with time, that does tend to get better.”
RELATED: Will Prostate Cancer Surgery Side Effects Be Long-Term?
Other Treatment Options
Overall, know there are many different treatment options for both early and later-stage prostate cancer including active surveillance, radiation, cryotherapy, hormone therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapy. Additionally, doctors may have differing opinions on the best treatment path to take, so don't hesitate to ask lots of questions and seek out multiple opinions.
Second (& Third) Opinions Matter When Deciding Between Surgery or Radiation
"I think it behooves the patient to have multiple discussions or second opinions, not only by the urologist who did the biopsy and diagnosed that man, but also with other surgeons and other radiation oncologists just to get a very circumspect view of what the treatment options are," Dr. Jim Hu, a urologic oncologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, said. "Oftentimes, I think patients need to understand that our health system is based a lot on fee-for-service medicine.
"And so therefore, a lot of physicians, I think, who are very well intentioned, will believe that their treatment is best for that particular man."
Questions to Ask Your Doctor about Prostate Cancer Surgery
- Is surgery an option for treating my prostate cancer?
- What kind of surgery would be best for me, and why?
- What kind of side effects will surgery cause, and how long will they last?
- Do you have methods to help manage those side effects?
- Do those side effects outweigh the benefit of that treatment for my type of prostate cancer?
- What other treatment options are available for me to treat my cancer?
What to Know about Prostate Cancer Screening
There is no one set of guidelines for prostate cancer screening. According to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), the following recommendations apply to men who are at an average or increased risk for prostate cancer who have never had the disease and do not have any symptoms:
- “Men who are 55 to 69 years old should make individual decisions about being screened for prostate cancer with a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test.”
- “Before making a decision, men should talk to their doctor about the benefits and harms of screening for prostate cancer, including the benefits and harms of other tests and treatment.”
- “Men who are 70 years old and older should not be screened for prostate cancer routinely.”
Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is the name of a protein secreted by the prostate gland. Men have a small amount of PSA in their blood all the time but large amounts may signal that something is brewing. When cancer cells grow, PSA spills into the blood.
If You Have a Family History of Prostate Cancer, Get Screened Early
Other organizations may have different screening recommendations, but, no matter what, it’s important to talk to your doctor and make a decision based on your individual risk level. The CDC says you and your doctor should consider the following when making a screening plan:
- If you have a family history of prostate cancer.
- If you are African American African American men are more likely to develop prostate cancer and are twice as likely to die from the disease when compared with white men.
- If you have other medical conditions that may make prostate cancer treatment difficult if cancer is found.
- If you have medical conditions that may make you less likely to benefit from screening.
- How you value the potential pros and cons of screening, diagnosis and treatment.
According to Dr. David Wise, a medical oncologist at NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center, “men who are at high risk because of a family history should have PSA testing earlier at latest, age 40, but probably even by age 35, they should have an initial PSA.”
The PSA Blood Test and a Rectal Exam are Vital for Prostate Cancer Screening
When screening is recommended, it is typically done via a PSA test and a digital rectal exam.
“PSA screening saves lives,” Dr. Wise said. “It’s a consensus. It’s established. And so that’s where we stand today.”
It’s important to note, however, that while PSA tests are valuable tools, they are not perfect. An elevated PSA measurement does not necessarily mean you have prostate cancer. It could simply mean your prostate is enlarged which is quite common or you have an infection or inflammation.
That’s why the PSA test is controversial since it has the possibility to lead to over-treatment in men who are more likely to die from something else. Regardless, our experts maintain the PSA tests are helpful.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.