Prostate Cancer

Brachytherapy is a highly effective treatment for people with very low-, low-, and intermediate-risk prostate cancer. Brachytherapy has few side effects. This treatment can improve outcomes in people who receive external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for intermediate- to high-risk prostate cancer. Treatment for prostate cancer has a high success rate, especially if healthcare professionals catch the cancer in the early stages. Brachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy that targets the site of the cancer. There are two major types: high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy low-dose rate (LDR) brachytherapy In both cases, the procedure is minimally invasive and offers strong prospects for a full recovery. Healthline has partnered with Northwell Health Cancer Institute to bring you more information about how healthcare professionals use brachytherapy to treat prostate cancer. Brachytherapy is a form of radiation treatment. During brachytherapy, doctors take small par...

May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. More than 5 million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in the United States each year. There are several types of skin cancer. Melanoma is the third most common and the deadliest because it tends to metastasize, spread to other parts of the body.  Charles Dimitroff, executive associate dean for research at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM) has studied melanomas for 15 years, most recently at the Translational Glycobiology Institute at FIU (TGIF), where he serves as director. The institute focuses on studying glycans—sugars or carbohydrates found in the surface of cells—and their impact on cancer progression. "Just a few years ago, we identified profound differences between the carbohydrates on the surface of melanoma cells that had metastasized and those that had not metastasized," said Dimitroff. He is now exploring whether this difference is behind the cell's ability to spread. "Studying these carbohydrates...

The most common medications used in routine care to manage lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) are associated with an increased risk of cardiac failure, according to a recently published population-based study. 1 Investigators studied data on more than 175,200 men with BPH treated with 5-alpha reductase inhibitors, alpha blockers, or a combination. They found that men treated with either therapy or a combination had a statistically increased risk of cardiac failure compared with those who did not take the medications. The highest risk for cardiac failure was among BPH patients taking alpha blockers alone or in combination, according to the study published in The Journal of Urology . There are 2 key points for urologists, said study author D. Robert Siemens, MD, professor and Chair of Urology at Queen's University School of Medicine, Ontario, Canada. "This adds to the evidence that there may be some degree of association between symptoma...