Insights

SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

Prostate Cancer: New Treatments in the Operating Room and on the Horizon for Localized Prostate Cancer

Christopher Saigal, MD

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men; widespread cancer screening using the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test has led to a substantial increase in men diagnosed at an early, curable stage. However, treatment for localized prostate cancer has important urinary and sexual side effects. Surgical treatment also involves the risk of blood loss and entails several weeks of recovery. Newer treatments such as robotic prostatectomy, cryoablation (freezing) of the prostate, and high frequency ultrasound ablation of the prostate have been developed to mitigate some of these side effects. Dr. Saigal reviews the facts and fiction behind these and traditional treatment options for prostate cancer.

Christopher Saigal, MD graduated from the UCLA School of Medicine, and completed a Masters Degree in Public Health at the UCLA Department of Urology. After he completed fellowship training at UCLA, he joined the UCLA faculty, where he is currently an Associate Professor of Urology. He is a Principal Investigator at the RAND Corporation, where he leads the analysis for the NIH’s Urological Diseases in America project. He also is the UCLA Principal Investigator for the National Cancer Institute’s Prostate Cancer Outcomes and Satisfaction with Treatment Quality Assessment study. Dr. Saigal serves on the American Urological Association’s Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Committee. Dr. Saigal’s research interests include quality of care research, disease prevention, sexual dysfunction, administrative dataset analyses, patient preference assessment, and decision analysis.