Prostate cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers affecting men worldwide. Early and accurate diagnosis is crucial for effective treatment and better patient outcomes. Traditionally, transrectal biopsies have been the standard for diagnosing prostate cancer. However, advancements in medical technology have paved the way for a safer and more accurate alternative – trans-perineal biopsies with lower infection risks. When combined with multiparametric MRI (mpMRI), fusion trans-perineal biopsies offers a superior diagnostic solution for prostate cancer, with a significant reduction in the risk ..read more

By Alan Doherty, consultant urologist, the Birmingham Prostate Clinic Something I consistently hear from both patients and GPs is the notion that the PSA test is a ‘bad’ test. I understand the basis of this: the measurement of the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) within the blood and a higher than expected level of PSA is used as an indicator of possible cancer within the prostate. It is an imprecise indicator: we know that three quarters of men with an elevated PSA level (3ng/ml or above) will not have cancer. Equally, around 15 per cent of men who are told they have a normal PSA do have cance ..read more

What are the latest advances in radiotherapy? Consultant Clinical Oncologist Dan Ford assesses key news from the American Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Meeting 2019. What was the major talking point? The recent meeting of ASTRO in Chicago acknowledged and showcased the recent advances in the field of radiotherapy and other areas of disease management and treatment. The developing role of Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) in patient care was one of the big talking points, with the presidential debate asking whether it should be standard of care for patients, or if mo ..read more

Why having high-quality nerve-sparing surgery is so important. A patient describes his experience. “I have a Well Man check every year through my employment. I’ve gone along to assessments routinely for the past five years and at my most recent check, everything seemed fine, as usual. But the next day, I got a phone call and the doctor told me my PSA test was a little raised and recommended further tests. I was referred to a private hospital close to my home in Staffordshire where I had an MRI scan and a biopsy. I was 55 at the time, I had no symptoms and we’d been on holiday just before comin ..read more

Birmingham Prostate Clinic patients have received SpaceOAR® Hydrogel implants, the first innovation in a new partnership created to deliver advanced treatment and care. SpaceOAR® Hydrogel is a water-based soft gel implant which has been clinically proven to reduce the side-effects of radiotherapy. It works by creating space between the prostate gland and the surrounding area and in so doing, limits harm to healthy tissue. The first group of four BPC patients have just received their SpaceOAR® Hydrogel implants in a 30-minute day case procedure which takes place at Nuffield Health Warwickshire ..read more

Cancer patients in the Midlands are set to benefit from a new collaboration between specialist prostate treatment group Birmingham Prostate Clinic (BPC), and the UK’s largest cancer care provider, GenesisCare. BPC will become part of GenesisCare, in a move to increase patient access to GenesisCare’s leading prostate cancer therapies, including advanced diagnostics and a ground-breaking, personalised treatment called theranostics. Bringing together the two organisations will better enable men with prostate cancer and benign conditions in the region to receive integrated assessments through to w ..read more

As a forensic engineer by profession and practicing as an expert witness Lee Cookson spends his working life asking questions and applying scientific reasoning to establish the cause of fires and mechanical failures. Here he tells us about his prostate cancer journey and how he used his professional experience to ensure he got the treatment that was right for him. I am only 50 years old, and I had not given prostate cancer much thought, and let’s be honest, it’s an old man’s disease, and it only gave both my grandfather’s trouble when they were 77 and 82. I had experienced some occasional symp ..read more

As a forensic engineer by profession and practicing as an expert witness Lee Cookson spends his working life asking questions and applying scientific reasoning to establish the cause of fires and mechanical failures. Here he tells us about his prostate cancer journey and how he used his professional experience to ensure he got the treatment that was right for him. I am only 50 years old, and I had not given prostate cancer much thought, and let’s be honest, it’s an old man’s disease, and it only gave both my grandfather’s trouble when they were 77 and 82. I had experienced some occasional symp ..read more

“I started getting up at night to go to the toilet, which was something I’d not done before. Straight away, my wife said – you need to see a doctor. I saw my doctor, then went to a local hospital for an MRI scan and biopsy. I was told that had prostate cancer, although the good news was that it was confined to one part of my prostate. My daughter then got on the iPad to research different treatments and found out about HIFU. It appealed to me because of the way it reduces side effects and complications. I still have a nice relationship with my wife, and I didn’t want that to be affected by sur ..read more

After his treatment at the Birmingham Prostate Clinic, Nigel Watson launched a personal ‘Beat Prostate Cancer’ series of fund-raising runs. He planned to start running marathons again just six months after his own prostate cancer operation in October 2019. What he couldn’t have anticipated was that none of these events would take place because of Covid-19. The first event he was due to race in was the Manchester Marathon, on April 5. “I was disappointed, of course,” says Nigel, who was 64 in May as  “Every single event I planned to do was cancelled, for understandable reasons”. “So I pick ..read more