Urologist talks innovations in prostate cancer treatment

Anshu Guleria, M.D., urologist with Novant Health, stresses importants of screenings for early detection and treatment

LELAND, NC (WWAY) — Most people know about the importance of protecting against skin cancer, but few talk about the second-most diagnosed cancer in men:  prostate cancer.

Anshu Guleria, M.D., is a urologist with Novant Health.

He recently stopped by the WWAY studios for a conversation about innovative cancer treatments with Good Morning Carolina’s Donna Gregory.

Dr. Guleria described some of the risk factors men should be aware of when it comes to prostate cancer.

“Prostate cancer is mostly a familial disease,” Guleria explained, “so risk factors would be family history, and then age.  Men over 50 should be screened for prostate cancer annually.”

Guleria says a routine examination is necessary, but a PSA blood test is an even more important screening method for detecting early-stage prostate cancer.

This type of cancer is more common than many people realize.

“About 200,000 men in the United States are diagnosed every year,” he reported, “so it’s the second leading cause of cancer besides skin cancer.”

Guleria says the disease is highly treatable, if caught in time.

“The traditional treatments have been radical prostatectomy, removal of the entire prostate,” he mentioned.

He also said radiation therapy is common, and sometimes, no treatment is recommended.

“Sometimes just observation in low grade, low stage cancer so we don’t do any treatments.”

Guleria says there are other, less-invasive therapies, and he’s performed some of them successfully for decades.

“A prostate can be frozen; cryoablation is a treatment I’ve been doing over 20 years,” Guleria explained.

“It involves placing small needles into the prostate, under anesthesia of course, and then freezing the prostate gland and causing cell death that way.”

Another treatment is called high intensity focused ultrasound, which Guleria has been performing for about 12 years.  He says it involves using ultrasound energy to heat the process in small areas necessary for treatment.

“Both treatments are relatively new compared to the radical prostatectomy and the radiation treatments,” Guleria said.

“But they’ve been around for a while, and the success rate is very good.  And more importantly, patients have very good outcomes in terms of rectal, bladder and sexual function,” he added.

Dr. Guleria says picking the right treatment for the patient is paramount, and communication with a doctor is critical.

“In men with family history, you can start talking about it in their early 40’s,” he suggested, “and bascally all men should be screened [yearly] after age 50.

Dr. Guleria says he hopes he can inspire people to get over the fear getting diagnosed,” he said.

“Once you get that behind you, there are many options for treatments,” he emphasized.

To learn more about prostate cancer, visit here .