ANNOUNCEMENT FOLLOWING PUBLICATION OF NICE RECOMMENDATIONS ON LOCAL ANAESTHETIC TRANSPERINEAL (LATP) BIOPSIES BXTA welcomes the publication of the new NICE guidelines for undertaking prostate biopsies which recommend that: “Local anaesthetic transperineal (LATP) prostate biopsy using the freehand needle positioning device PrecisionPoint is recommended as an option for diagnosing prostate cancer.” Since early 2018 and the launch of the PrecisionPoint device, BXTA has led the transformation of UK prostate biopsy practice to the LATP method from the previously established transrectal procedu ..read more

As it stands, not all men across the United Kingdom have access to the latest biopsy techniques and treatment options for prostate cancer, which are often postcode dependent due to availability and nursing shortage. However, giving patients control over their choice is key; as the side effects of the different treatment options can vary and may have an impact on a gentleman’s lifestyle, and therefore, quality of life post-treatment. Every man going through treatment for prostate cancer should be given an equitable opportunity. This is something that Camberley-based John Whitehouse realised, s ..read more

If you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, it is important to consider the full range of treatment options – including those that may not have been mentioned to you initially by your hospital or treatment centre, such as brachytherapy. When caught early, prostate cancer has a good survival rate – around 475,000 men in the UK are either living with, or after, prostate cancer – so it is worth taking some time to understand about the potential medium- to long-term impact of your treatment on your lifestyle and be aware of what you can expect after brachytherapy for prostate cancer. In choo ..read more

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the United Kingdom, affecting nearly 50,000 men a year. During the peak of COVID-19, between March and September 2020, urgent referrals for suspected cancer were down by 31% compared to the same period in 2019, equating to 42,000 fewer people. It’s clear that many patients are not being diagnosed – and may not even show symptoms – yet, an early diagnosis can help not only increase survival rates, but also offer a more varied choice of treatments with improved quality of life. Angus Watson, a 61-year-old man from Scotland, did not show any sy ..read more

At BXTA, we are off to a busy start to the new year already, with many exciting meetings and events planned for the first half of 2023. Please find a list below to find out where we are attending between now and June 2023: Australian Brachytherapy Group (ABG) Conference: The 32nd Annual Scientific Meeting, the Australian Brachytherapy Group (ABG) Conference, is taking place between the 9th and the 11th of February at the Manly Pacific Hotel in Sydney. The ABG Conference plays an integral part in bringing together passionate and dedicated brachytherapy practitioners. After two years of virtual ..read more

New NHS figures have revealed that the number of men having treatment for prostate cancer has increased by more than a quarter in England between 2021 to 2022. Having men treated is positive news; however, it is still the case that too many men are diagnosed later than they could have been through a lack or misunderstanding of their symptoms. It is, therefore, equally important that we encourage men to have regular, routine tests available on the NHS, as early diagnosis allows men to have a wider range of treatment options and a better chance of overall survival and higher quality of life. In ..read more

Prostate Cancer Treatments – What are your Options and how to Choose? There are numerous treatments for prostate cancer – and when newly diagnosed, trying to find out which may be the right one for you can be confusing. Not only are you and your family dealing with the fact that you have been diagnosed with cancer, and all of the questions and fears that raises, but often decisions around prostate cancer treatment have to be made in a relatively short space of time. In addition, sifting through lots of reading material, while trying to get your head around medical terms that will be entirel ..read more

Prostate cancer affects 47,500 men in the UK every year, but not all patients experience symptoms – which is why it is important that men over the age of 50 must regularly check their PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels. If diagnosed at an early stage, men will be likely to have both better outcomes, as well as a wider variety of treatment options – improving their quality of life long-term. However, whilst having the right support and advice from healthcare professionals is crucial, it is also important that men do their research and find out exactly what pathways are available to them ..read more

A new study published in December 2022, authored by Noelia Sanmamed, Lisa Joseph, Juanita Crook, Tim Craig, Padraig Warde, Anne Di Tomasso, Peter Chung, Alejandro Berlin, Andrew Bayley, Elantholi P Saibishkumar, Rachel Glicksman, Srinivas Raman, Charles Catton and Joelle Helou, has compared the long-term oncologic outcomes of intermediate-risk (IR) prostate cancer patients (PCa) treated with low dose-rate brachytherapy (LDR-BT) versus those treated with moderate hypofractionated external beam radiotherapy (HF-EBRT). Factors that are compared include the biochemical disease-free survival (bDFS ..read more

If you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, it is important to consider the full range of treatment options – including those that may not have been mentioned to you initially by your hospital or treatment centre, such as brachytherapy. When caught early, prostate cancer has a good survival rate – around 475,000 men in the UK are either living with, or after, prostate cancer – so it is worth taking some time to understand about the potential medium- to long-term impact of your treatment on your lifestyle. In choosing your treatment option, there are two main things to consider. The first ..read more