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Salvage surgery occurs after initial radiation treatment for prostate cancer in patients
who suffer a recurrence of their disease.
So, the idea for salvage surgery is that patients may have received prior treatment for their
prostate cancer often involving radiation and disease is recurred. However, the possibility
remains and disease has recurred only in the prostate and surgery may be able to control
the cancer. Patients who have a rising PSA after radiation may be diagnosed with recurrent
prostate cancer. If evaluation does not show disease anywhere else, it is possible this
reflects a localized recurrence and in selective cases salvage surgery may be appropriate.
Options in this case typically involve radical prostatectomy. That is what most of literature
and experience has been, however, other less invasive approaches are being explored including
cryosurgery as ways to achieve similar control and get minimizing risks and complications.
Other options such as a brachytherapy remain experimental and of course hormonal therapy
remains an option as well.
Some prostate cancers are high risk, aggressive, and more likely to spread. Others are low
risk, least likely to have bad outcomes. The biopsy says cancer, but current diagnostic
tools provide limited information about how aggressive a man's individual disease is,
so most men decide to treat prostate cancer immediately. Once treated, many men experience
serious long-term side effects like incontinence and *** impotence. Immediate treatment
is not always needed, but right now a man can't be sure if his cancer is the kind that
is likely to require treatment or if he is okay to wait for now. What if there was a
test that could determine how aggressive prostate cancer is. Genomic health is developing a
new test to do just that. By reviewing the underlying biology of the tumor and using
genes from multiple biologic pathways, the test can predict the aggressiveness of prostate
cancer when diagnosed, allowing a man to make a more informed treatment decision with confidence,
taking care of himself with more information and greater peace of mind.