Our Treatments for Localized Prostate Cancer

If you have been advised that your prostate cancer is classified as "High Risk" or after previous treatment has returned, or if your PSA levels are rising after your primary treatment has been completed, you have come to the right place - we can help.

Treatments

Our Patients with Recurrence

We know that a rising PSA after radiation indicates a recurrence of prostate cancer. There are 30,000 new patients each year in the U.S. who are faced with this dilemma after having radiation therapy, and to make matters worse independent studies (1) have shown that this is an epidemic that is being “largely mismanaged”(2) (see Radiorecurrent Prostate Cancer: An Emerging and Largely Mismanaged Epidemic).
Almost all of the patients in this situation who are actively treated, that is about 30,000 men each year, are chemically castrated using a variety of medications, even though chemical castration is not a cure for these patients and has many negative health and lifestyle consequences. (3) Meanwhile, we know that many of these patients are still potentially “curable” by locating and destroying recurrent cancer remaining in the prostate. This is our challenge every day for every patient.

If you or someone you love has a rising PSA or has been placed on hormone ablation therapy (chemical castration) after radiation for recurrent prostate cancer, there is now hope that a cure is still possible.
The basis of our philosophy for the management of our patients come down to our “Golden Rule of Medicine”.
We will treat you as we would want to be treated. 

This is infused into all aspects of our patient care. From the access our patients have to us (all patients receive our direct cell phone number). To our diagnostic and biopsy protocols and to the treatments that we perform. When I was faced with metastatic prostate cancer, I proved my commitment to this philosophy when I myself was treated with my own immunotherapy regimen rather than the standard treatment of chemical castration.

Our Newly Diagnosed High-Risk Patients

If you are not facing the challenge of Recurrent Prostate Cancer, but instead have a new diagnosis of Prostate Cancer that has been classified as “High Risk”, the methods and techniques that we employ are designed and proven to offer you the best possible chance for a successful outcome (see study), with the lowest risks of adverse quality of life impacts. In fact, we believe that targeted Focal Cryo-ablation offers you an even more compelling choice because it carries the lowest risk that you may one day have such a recurrence – and that is a tremendous advantage indeed.

Our Approach Uses All Available Targeted Focal Therapies

Using the latest image-guided tumor ablation therapy, it is now possible to treat cancer recurrence after radiation therapy with a minimal chance of complications. This allows a patient to stop hormonal therapy, with its debilitating side effects, and to resume a normal life. Moreover, we can use the choice of therapy that best meets your unique circumstances and medical conditions.

Our process is simple and direct. First, by using advanced imaging and biopsy techniques, we find and identify the target cancers that have recurred. Second, using the results of your imaging and biopsy studies, we consult with you to select the best treatment modality for your particular unique medical case and needs. Then, at the time of treatment, we use all of the imaging and medical data to guide and apply the most advanced local ablation techniques for the destruction of your tumors. This video link will show you more.

One of Dr. Onik’s most recent contributions to the field of cancer treatment has been as the physician-inventor, and one of the original patent holders, of the first of its kind non-thermal tumor ablation modality called Irreversible Electroporation, or IRE.

IRE has been medically available as the Nanoknife ® since 2010. Because it is a “non-thermal” modality, IRE can spare normal structures such as nerves and vessels, thereby decreasing the complications associated with cancer treatment. This powerful new technology, which holds great promise for new therapies for many cancers, is being used in some of the world’s most prominent cancer centers.

As the inventor of IRE for cancer therapy, it is the simple truth that Dr. Onik is the most knowledgeable and skilled physician in its use in the world.

Drawing on this immense background of experience and expertise, we can help you by employing all of these important prostate cancer ablation modalities in our mission:

To provide you with the best possible treatment of your High Risk or Recurrent Prostate Cancer.

References

 

1. Agarwal P.K., Sadetsky A. and Carroll P.R. et. al. Treatment Failure After Primary and Salvage Therapy for Prostate Cancer. The likelihood, Patterns of Care, and Outcomes. CANCER 2008;2: 307-314.

2. Jones J.S. Radiorecurrent Prostate Cancer: An Emerging and Largely Mismanaged Epidemic, Eur Urol 2011, 411-412.

3. Grossfeld G.D., Li Y.P. and Carroll P.R. et.al. Predictors of Secondary Cancer Treatment in Patients Receiving Local Therapy for Prostate Cancer. Data from Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Urologic Research Endeavour. J Uro 2002; 116:5226-34.

Frequently Asked Questions

For all additional questions, please feel free to contact us!

No. Focal Therapy using cryoablation (by which we destory only the tumor within the prostate, not the whole gland), is an option now being offered that has less complications than a full gland treatment and appears to actually a better chance of success in treating your prostate cancer.

Radiation-recurrent prostate cancer is a deadly disease. Prostate cancer that has recurred after radiation is often times more aggressive than the original tumor the patient had before the radiation. This means that patients should seek targeted local treatment to prevent the cancer from spreading, without needless delay.

Radiation causes the tissues around the prostate to get stuck together making it very hard to remove the prostate gland, without causing extensive damage. Radical prostatectomy is therefore usually NOT performed in Radiation-recurrent prostate cancer because of poor cancer control results and very high complication rates. The Da Vinci Robot® has not been proven to help with this situation.

Usually No. Radiation therapists try to give the maximum dose possible the first time you are treated using radiation. Once you have reached that maximum dose no more radiation can safely be given. Additional radiation is usually NOT performed in Radiation-recurrent prostate cancer because of high complication rates.

Yes. Cryoablation (freezing of the tumor) has been approved for Radiation-recurrent prostate cancer since 2001 and is part of the NCCN 2011 (National Comprehensive Cancer Network) recommendations for patients with Radiation-recurrent prostate cancer. It is the only ablation modality approved for this indication (HIFU is not FDA approved or available in the US.) It works very well and has the lowest complication rates of any of the “salvage” treatments.

Radiation-recurrent prostate cancer is indicated by a rising PSA after radiation. While 75% of men with radiation-recurrent prostate cancer are treated, most of them are placed on hormone therapy (chemically castrated). Only 7% are treated with therapies directly to the prostate gland, in an effort to cure the patient. The large majority as a result are being “mis-managed”.

No. Hormonal therapy is NOT A CURE for radiation-recurrent prostate cancer. Moreover, it increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and is associated with other significant side effects which can effect a patient’s health and quality of life.

Yes we have cutting edge treatments for patients with metastatic disease and CRC (castrate resistant prostate cancer). These treatments utilize our proprietary techniques and immunotherapy to harness your bodies defenses to fight your cancer.