Make Prostate Care a Priority

If you’ve been getting up more often at night to go to the
bathroom, don’t just write it off as a part of aging. Prostate
cancer can affect your continence function and is a common
disease, affecting 1 in 8 men in the U.S.

“Early detection is critical, so pay attention to symptoms
like burning or pain while urinating, trouble starting or
stopping urinating, a frequent urge to urinate at night or a
loss of bladder control,” said Layron Long, MD, a urologist at
Samaritan Urology – Corvallis.

These symptoms are also common among those who have an
enlarged prostate, so don’t automatically assume it’s cancer
if you are having pain or complications with urination. Your
best bet is to go in for an exam.

Advanced treatments available

If you are over the age of 65, are Black or have a family
history of prostate cancer, you may be at a higher risk, so
talk to your primary care provider even if you aren’t noticing
any symptoms. Since prostate cancer can develop without
symptoms, you may need to be screened using a physical
exam or a blood test. Depending on the results of these
tests you may be referred to a urologist for a biopsy to
confirm diagnosis.

“We use highly targeted tools for detecting and treating
prostate cancer, like MRI or ultrasound‑guided biopsy,
which uses real‑time imaging to identify a possible tumor
and take an accurate sample,” said Dr. Long. “If surgery is
needed, our team offers minimally invasive robotic
surgery to preserve healthy tissue and minimize
side effects.”

Some patients are good candidates for
a form of radiation therapy called
prostate brachytherapy. This
treatment uses a tiny device the
size of a grain of rice placed at the
tumor site to dispense radiation.
Since this restricts radiation
to a small area, brachytherapy
can treat cancer while limiting
damage to healthy cells.

Recovery outlook is positive

Dr. Long reports that prostate
cancer responds well to
treatment, with a 90% to 95%
cure rate if detected early.

“Don’t ignore prostate problems,”
he said. “We use the most
cutting‑edge technologies, but the best
care works even better if we can find the
cancer when it’s small.”

Hear from Rik Savering, prostate cancer survivor,
about how his fear prolonged getting care and his
hindsight advice for others, at samhealth.org/RikS.