Being newly diagnosed with prostate cancer can be overwhelming. Immediate thoughts of our own mortality can overcome us. The fact is that 1 in 6 men in their lifetime will get this news, and there are many very successful treatments. I encourage all my patients to educate themselves with the many resources available and so that together, we may make an educated treatment decision. There are a lot of myths and stigmata out there surrounding different treatment options. Below is a list of several reputable websites which I routinely refer my patients to so they may study their condition.
NCCN Guidelines:
http://www.nccn.com/files/cancer-guidelines/prostate/index.html#/1/
The NCCN Guidelines are the most comprehensive and most frequently updated clinical practice guidelines available in any area of medicine. These guidelines provide information that many doctors follow to make sure their decisions for people with cancer are well informed. The NCCN Guidelines are developed by 43 different NCCN Guidelines Panels composed of nearly 900 world-leading experts from each of the NCCN Member Institutions. Cancer is treated by teams of doctors and other health professionals who work together to diagnose and treat cancer. NCCN Guidelines Panels are multidisciplinary, which means they include experts in different fields reflecting the way cancer is treated. These fields include medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, pathology, radiology, nursing, and social work. Recommendations in the NCCN Guidelines are based on evaluation of evidence from clinical trials that are published in the medical literature. Most of the panel members who develop the NCCN Guidelines perform both clinical research and treat people with cancer. 1
US National Library of Medicine
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0004906/pdf/consprostate.pdf
The U.S. National Library of medicine (NLM) is the world’s largest medical library. It has millions of books and journals about all aspects of medicine and health care on its shelves. Its electronic services deliver trillions of bytes of data to millions of users every day. This is a plain english guide to understanding the disease process and treatment options.
Urology Care Foundation
http://www.urologyhealth.org/urology/index.cfm?article=146
This is the American Urological Association’s official patient resource website.
Intuitive Surgical
http://www.davinciprostatectomy.com
Makers of the da Vinci Robotic Surgical system. This is the standard of care for surgical removal of the prostate. We have extensive experience with this technology, and firmly believe in it’s merits.
David Bryan, M.D. 's Urology Blog 