The long, thin, flexible laparoscope contains fibers and a series of magnifying glasses that shine light inside the body, enabling physicians to perform procedures previously done only with open surgery. Eliminating all the associated risks and costs of traditional surgery, laparoscopic surgery is a short stay procedure in which patients are usually home and resuming normal activities that same day. Increasingly, our patients are taking advantage of this advanced procedure, which is offered collaboratively by our Radiation Oncology and Urology Departments. With RSI, small, rice-sized radioactive seeds are placed inside the prostate. The radiation that's released is directed at the cancer, leaving healthy tissue intact.
Side effects are minimal and patients can perform normal life activities during treatment.
When RSI is deemed inappropriate by physicians, surgeons turn to traditional treatment modalities, including suprapubic prostatectomy, retropubic prostatectomy, and perineal prostatectomy, in which surgeons make an incision in the perineal area to remove the prostate. The latter procedure eliminates the need for any abdominal incisions or scarring and is the preferred procedure when appropriate. It's the world's most common cancer and its incidence continues to rise. In America alone, over 700,000 people will develop skin cancer this year. While basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma are the most common forms, malignant melanoma is the most life-threatening form of skin cancer.