Free preventive examinations for men in ISUL in November

Free preventive examinations for men in ISUL in November

On the occasion of World Prostate Cancer Month and the international Movember initiative throughout November, ISUL announces free screenings for men. They will be performed by the Urology and Andrology Clinic team of the hospital. They will be held every working day, from November 1 to 30, between 12:00 and 14:00. To take advantage of the opportunity, interested patients must make an appointment in advance by calling 02 94 32 201 and 02 94 32 419. A consultation, ultrasound of the prostate and rectal douching are planned, which will take place in room 225 on the first floor. This is the polyclinic office of the clinic, which is located above the Emergency Department. For the examination, it is necessary for the patient to bring an up-to-date Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test, not older than 1 month, and not to have urinated in the last hour and a half. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men in Bulgaria after lung cancer. About 3,000 men are diagnosed each year. Men over 60 years of age are most often affected by prostate cancer, but earlier manifestations of the disease, when it progresses more aggressively, are not an exception and draw attention from the Clinic. Prostate cancer is among the leading causes of death in men. There is a genetic link between prostate cancer and breast cancer. Men whose mothers or sisters have been diagnosed with breast cancer are more likely to develop prostate cancer. The inverse relationship is also characteristic, in women whose brothers or fathers had prostate cancer, the probability of breast cancer is greater. From the end of 2021, an innovative method for intratissue radiation in early prostate cancer has been introduced in the Urology and Andrology Clinic of the “Tsaritsa Joanna – ISUL” UMBAL. In low-dose brachytherapy, small grains of iodine 125 isotope, calculated according to a certain formula, are inserted into the prostate gland. They carry out intra-tissue irradiation of the tumor of the prostate gland within 6-8 weeks, in which a 96% cure is achieved. In this way, the radical removal of the gland is avoided, as well as the side effects that sometimes accompany it (urine leakage, erectile dysfunction). Low-dose brachytherapy minimizes the likelihood of postoperative complications and progression of the disease to a more advanced stage. The patient stays in the hospital for only 48 hours, after which he can be discharged for home treatment. As long as the grains with iodine 125 isotope are in his body, he is completely safe for others, there is no danger for other organs in his body. After this period, the grains, which are biocompatible, are resorbed in the prostate gland. Low-dose brachytherapy is suitable for men with an early form of prostate cancer, usually group 2, which does not extend beyond the capsule of the gland, and with a PSA value of no more than 10. Ten men have already undergone treatment with the innovative procedure, which,although in Europe it is one of the established methods for the treatment of this type of carcinoma, in Bulgaria it is practiced only in the Urology and Andrology Clinic of ISUL. The results of their treatment, also presented at the National Congress of Urology, are impressive. None of the patients experienced any side effects, the hospital said.

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