Life-saving research to improve the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.
RAH patient and prostate cancer survivor Arturo Princi talks with Dr John Bolt Head of Urology, RAH
Imagine waking up every day facing the unknown.
This is the reality for hundreds of men living with prostate cancer.
Our team of urologists, radiotherapists and oncologists need definitive answers to offer tailored, life-saving treatments.
When prostate cancer is first diagnosed, the most immediate need is to establish the severity of the disease. Unless significant advancement of the cancer is evident and treatment is needed urgently, many men are placed on an Active Surveillance program. This program currently holds the records of South Australian men with a diagnosis of prostate cancer. Many of these men spend years waiting and wondering about their cancer prognosis.
The statistics for prostate cancer are disturbing. Click here to find out why.
The Urology unit is part of a progressive and active treatment program for prostate cancer. Patient wellbeing is a critical part of prostate cancer treatment and a key goal for the Urology team. To address the enormous amount of patient stress around a prostate cancer diagnosis, we need to improve management of the Active Surveillance program. We want to increase communication with our patients, share information and updates on the disease and hold more regular check-ups, tests and conversations. We need to ensure that men living with prostate cancer feel confident and in control of their cancer diagnosis.
With a dedicated researcher, we can magnify our search for answers. We can undertake new, in depth study protocols. With more information, we can reduce waiting time, deliver more certainty and develop tailored treatment plans. We can improve treatment outcomes and save more lives.
We need to optimise treatment for men who need it and carefully monitor and support those patients whose cancer is under surveillance.
Our new, full-time Research Fellow will:
- Conduct comprehensive, case-by-case data analysis, researching previous treatment outcomes to find new answers
- Use these research results to create a coordinated cancer care package for the hundreds of South Australian men living with prostate cancer
- Develop new systems and procedures to manage our Active Surveillance and Active Treatment programs, to accurately monitor the condition of all patients on these programs and deliver tailored treatment where it is needed most urgently
A core role for our new Fellowship position will be operation of the state-of-the-art Da Vinci Robotic Surgical System, which has brought minimally invasive surgery to more than three million patients worldwide.
The RAH, in collaboration with our South Australian treatment partners, has been using the robotic surgery program since 2004, when it was originally acquired thanks to the generosity of the Pickard Foundation.
This world-leading surgical system, powered by robotic technology, allows the surgeon’s hand movements to be translated into smaller, precise movements of tiny instruments inside the patient’s body. This robotic surgery has improved treatment outcomes for many patients at the RAH, including Mr Arturo Princi.
Arturo’s successful surgical experience will be one of the cases our new Research Fellow will analyse in order to create a tailored, coordinated cancer care package for South Australians living with prostate cancer.