ONCOLOGY
THE LATEST IN PROSTATE CANCER DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT King Edward VII’s Hospital is one of the UK’s leading centres for urology, bringing together an exceptional multidisciplinary team of consultant urologists who are all leaders in their field. Having recently welcomed world-renowned prostate cancer specialists to an already impressive consultant group, the hospital invested heavily in technology to ensure their patients can access the latest, minimally invasive prostate cancer treatments.
1 The main reception at King Edward VII's Hospital (PHOTO: KING EDWARD VII'S HOSPITAL)
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The hospital was the first in the Harley Street area to acquire the latest da Vinci xi© robot, allowing its surgeons to perform precise, minimally invasive robotically-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomies. Patients can also benefit from focal therapy treatment using high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) or Nanoknife, the minimally invasive qualities greatly reducing the side effects of prostate cancer treatment.
Professors Mark Emberton and Caroline Moore explain more about the latest diagnosis and treatment techniques at King Edward VII’s Hospital:
Transperineal MRI-guided prostate biopsy The most important way to get an accurate assessment of your prostate cancer risk is to have a high-quality MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan, followed by a biopsy if needed. Suspicious areas on the MRI, and sometimes the areas where cancers are commonly seen, will need to be sampled using a biopsy needle. Traditionally the biopsy needle was passed through the back passage into the prostate. Not surprisingly, this could be associated with infections after the procedure, as it is difficult to clean the rectum. A transperineal biopsy – passing the needle through the perineum (the