How More Choices and Better Collaboration Are Changing Urologic Care
One of the things we hear almost every day in the office is, “I didn’t know that was even an option.”To be honest, we love hearing that. It means medicine is moving forward.
If you have not seen a urologist in the past ten or fifteen years, you might be surprised by how much has changed. When many of us started practice, the conversations were often fairly straightforward. Men with enlarged prostates usually took medication until it stopped working and then had surgery. Patients with prostate cancer often thought the choice was simply surgery or radiation. Men and women with overactive bladder were typically treated with medications that could help but often came with frustrating side effects such as dry mouth and constipation.
More Options Than
Ever Before
Today, the conversation is very different. Patients have more good options than ever before, and our job is not simply to recommend a treatment. It is to help patients understand those options and decide together which path makes the
most sense.
That is also why we write our Ask the Expert column each month. Medicine is changing quickly, but those advances only matter if people know they exist and understand when they may be appropriate. We have always believed that an informed patient is an empowered patient.
The New Conversation About
Enlarged Prostate
Enlarged prostate, or BPH, is a great example. Most men walk into the office believing they have only two choices: stay on medication forever or eventually have surgery. Then we sit down and start talking.
A healthy, active 55-year-old may not need the same treatment as a 75-year-old man with heart disease who takes blood thinners. Some patients do very well with medication. Others may be excellent candidates for newer minimally invasive procedures. Aquablation, for example, uses robotic technology and a high-pressure waterjet to precisely remove obstructing prostate tissue, while men with very large prostates may benefit from a robotic surgical approach.
Then there are patients who may not need surgery at all. Prostate artery embolization, or PAE, is an image-guided procedure performed by an interventional radiologist that can improve urinary symptoms without traditional surgery. One of the exciting things about modern medicine is that we can often achieve the same goal with a less invasive treatment than was possible in the past. For many men, the least invasive effective treatment may also be the
best treatment.
The interesting part is not that all of these treatments exist. It is that now we can tailor the treatment to the patient rather than expecting every patient to fit the treatment. Instead of asking, “What procedure do you do?” the question becomes, “What treatment makes the most sense for me?”
A New Era in
Prostate Cancer Care
The same evolution has taken place in prostate cancer care. Years ago, many men assumed a diagnosis automatically meant immediate surgery or radiation. Today, we know prostate cancer is much more nuanced. Some cancers should be treated promptly, while others may be safely managed with active surveillance.
For men who do need treatment, there are often several excellent options. Advances in MRI imaging, precision biopsy techniques, and newer technologies such as PSMA PET imaging are giving physicians a much clearer picture of a patient’s disease before important decisions are made. At UPNT, advanced PSMA PET imaging has become an important part of our growing prostate cancer program. Depending on those findings and the patient’s goals, treatment may include robotic surgery, precision radiation therapy, focal treatment, or participation in a clinical research study.
Why Collaboration Matters
Years ago, a patient might have visited one office, heard one opinion, and been offered one treatment. Today, the best care often comes from bringing together experts with different perspectives. A man with prostate cancer may meet with both a urologist and a radiation oncologist to discuss the advantages and tradeoffs of surgery, radiation, or active surveillance. A patient with an enlarged prostate may learn about robotic surgery, Aquablation, and prostate artery embolization through collaboration between urologists and our interventional radiology colleagues.
The same story is playing out across the rest of urology. Patients with overactive bladder and urinary urgency were once limited to medications that often came with frustrating side effects. Those treatments are still important, and for many people, they work well. But today, advances in Botox therapy and neuromodulation have changed the treatment landscape. Many men and women who once believed they would need lifelong medication are now enjoying significant improvement in their quality of life while reducing or even eliminating the need
for medication.
The Power of an
Integrated Team
As medicine has evolved, so has our practice. At Urology Partners of North Texas, we have built a collaborative, physician-led network that includes urologists, radiation oncologists, interventional radiologists, advanced practice providers, surgery centers, hospital partnerships, and a growing clinical research program. The goal is not simply to have more services. It is to make sure patients have access to the right expertise and the full spectrum of modern treatment options, all working together on their behalf.
For some patients, that means learning about an advanced minimally invasive procedure. For others, it means discussing surgery, radiation, and surveillance with multiple specialists before making an important decision. For still others, it may mean participating in a clinical research study that offers access to promising new therapies that are helping shape the future of medicine. Not every patient needs every option, but every patient deserves to know those
options exist.
One of the most rewarding moments in the office is when a patient says, “No one has ever explained it to me that way before.” We believe education is part of good medicine, and helping people understand their choices is just as important as providing the treatment itself.
Because with Urology Partners of North Texas, you are getting more than one urologist. You are gaining access to the collective experience, collaboration, and expertise of an entire team working together to help you find the treatment that is right for you.
