Experience Really Is Important When It Comes To Prostate Cancer Surgery
One of the biggest problems with cancer is that, despite the best efforts of your surgeon, it has a nasty habit of recurring in a number of cases. In the case of prostate cancer following the removal of the prostate by radical prostatectomy recent studies have revealed that, while the likelihood of a recurrence are around about 18 percent when surgery is performed by a fairly inexperienced surgeon, this figure falls to less than 11 percent in more experience hands. So exactly what do we mean when we talk about 'experienced hands'?
A recent study examined nearly 8,000 prostate cancer patients who underwent radical prostatectomy in the United States between 1987 and 2003 involving some 72 surgeons from 4 major academic cancer centers around the country.
Interestingly enough the study showed that there is an extremely steep learning curve when it comes to carrying out prostate surgery and that it takes a significant
private education loan of practice to master this particular surgical technique. Indeed, the study revealed that it was not until surgeons had performed at least 250 operations that a marked improvement in recurrence rates was evident.
So exactly what can we learn from this study if we are faced with the possibility of requiring prostate surgery?
First it is very important for patients to select a surgeon who regularly carries out this type of surgery. Indeed, it may well be advisable to select a surgeon who specializes exclusively in prostate surgery, or whose work revolves largely around such surgery. In most general hospital settings surgeons
get a private student loan perform such surgery very infrequently, perhaps as rarely as just once a year, and this is simply insufficient to provide them with the expertise necessary to provide you with the best possible change of a low recurrence rate.
Against this background therefore your first choice should without doubt be a specialist cancer treatment center and of a surgeon whose work involves exclusively, or at least very largely, prostate surgery.
The study also revealed however that there is a marked improvement in recurrence rates not merely for specialist cancer centers, but also for teaching establishments. This is undoubtedly because, within an academic environment, a great deal of emphasis is placed upon supporting mechanisms designed to assess the outcome of procedures and to provide
student loan rates in an effort to create an environment of continuous improvement. This is not always the case in non-academic environments. Additionally, academic centers have a tendency to attract people who are especially interested not just in the outcome of their work but in correcting their errors and improving their surgical technique.