Prostate Cancer Treatment Database Hits Milestone Of 12,500

Radiotherapy Centers of Georgia (RCOG), a division of RC Cancer Centers announced that as of March 23, they reached a new milestone and treated their 12,500th patient for prostate cancer with their ProstRcision® treatment therapy. The milestone means their treatment database is one of the most comprehensive in the nation. Available exclusively from RC Cancer Centers, ProstRcision® has the industry’s highest documented cure rate of 83 percent.

Each year thousands of patients from around the world and across the United States turn to RC Cancer Centers seeking a cure and learn why they are The Choice for Saving Lives. Founded in 1979, Radiotherapy Centers of Georgia, a division of RC Cancer Centers, has earned a reputation for being one of the country’s top cancer treatment and research facilities. With their commitment to quality, use of the latest radiation technology and research focus, RCOG treats men and women with different types of cancer, including breast, prostate, lung, colon, lymphatic and others.

RC Cancer Centers is the exclusive provider of ProstRcision®, which is a unique technique for curing prostate cancer that uses a combination of pinpoint irradiation through seed implant and conformal beam irradiation. In addition to the rigorous decade of education and training required of any surgeon, ProstRcision® doctors must complete an additional year of procedural instruction and surgical training before performing ProstRcision® on their own, in contrast to industry standards for other seed implant and robotic procedures. Only seven physicians in the country are credentialed in the procedure and all are affiliated with RC Cancer Centers.

“ProstRcision’s 10-year documented cure rate of 88 percent and the ability to protect against incontinence and preserve normal sex function makes it one of the most important treatment options available today,” said Dr. James Benton of Radiotherapy Centers of Georgia. “Our highly skilled and trained staff keeps abreast of the latest advances in treatment and are able to use this knowledge to provide men with effective outcomes delivered in a caring environment.” Read more

Prostate Cancer Treatment For Economically Disadvantaged Men: A Comparison Of County Hospitals And Private Providers

UroToday.com – In the journal Cancer, Dr. J. Kellogg Parsons and colleagues report on prostate cancer treatment for economically disadvantaged men in California. They found significant variations in prostate cancer treatment patterns by healthcare institutions providing care for disadvantaged as opposed to non-disadvantaged men.

The database was a state funded program for lower income men. IMPACT (Improving Access, Counseling, and Treatment for California Men with Prostate Cancer) program eligibility requirements included California residency, biopsy-proven prostate cancer, lack of health insurance, and a household income at or below 200% of the Federal poverty level. Patients in the impact program received care through a network of publicly funded county hospitals or private providers. Participating physicians were reimbursed by the state of California in this program. The payment was the same whether a patient was treated at a public or private institution. Demographic, clinical, and provider information was collected on all men enrolled in IMPACT from 2001 to 2006. During this period a total of 772 men were enrolled. Provider type was categorized as public county hospital versus private provider based on the initial facility at which the patient received his treatment. Thirteen county facilities contracted for this program. The program also contracted with any private practice physicians in the state of California. Read more

Genetic Abnormalities Predict Prostate Cancer Survival

Researchers have discovered that the combination of three genetic abnormalities significantly impacts how long a prostate cancer patient is likely to survive with the disease, according to the latest edition of the British Journal of Cancer.

Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) believe that patients could be tested for these genetic abnormalities to help decide the intensity of treatment they should receive.

The team used a technique called fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) to examine three specific genetic alterations in prostate cancer samples from 308 patients: loss of the PTEN gene and rearrangement of the ERG or ETV1 genes.

Previous studies have shown that ERG gene rearrangements occur commonly in prostate cancer as do deletions of all or part of the PTEN gene, but the combined impact of these abnormalities on survival in a large group of patients has not previously been examined.

Study lead author and ICR scientist Dr Alison Reid says the presence or absence of these abnormalities has a major impact on a patient’s risk of dying from prostate cancer.

“In this study, we found that patients who had none of these genetic alterations had a good prognosis – 85.5 per cent were still alive after 11 years,” Dr Reid says. “Happily, the majority of prostate cancer sufferers in this study, 54 per cent, were in this category.” Read more

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