Prostate clinic making a difference in people’s lives
Niagara Health’s prostate diagnostic assessment program sees more than 2,000 new patients per year.
Since opening three years ago, there have been more than 2,800 diagnoses on biopsy.
The average wait from a family doctor referral to a completed biopsy is 45 days.
Within 30 days of a diagnosis, more than 95 per cent of patients have had a multi-disciplinary visit with a urologist and radiation oncologist to hear about treatment choices and recommendations.
More than 85 per cent of men with low-risk prostate cancer now choose surveillance.
The success of the program at Walker Family Cancer Centre at St. Catharines Hospital has been aided by an annual Niagara Health Foundation campaign called Moustache Mania, which supports the needs of the program while raising awareness about prostate cancer care in the region.
During the month of November, participants collected pledges and raised money in their own creative way, such as growing moustaches, wearing paper moustaches and tshirts, drawing face moustaches, and finding a surrogate moustache grower.
This year’s event raised $15,000, and counting.
Since Moustache Mania began in 2014, more than $65,000 has been raised.
All funds raised stay local.
Dr. Ian Brown, the lead urologist of the program, participates in the fundraising initiative every November.
He said the money has been used to buy equipment at the clinic, which is the first of its kind in Niagara and is designed to improve quality of care and reduce wait times for men with suspected prostate cancer.
Brown said the goal is to streamline the process for men who have a concern about prostate cancer, “so when a family physician or another physician identifies a patient that they’re worried about having prostate cancer, there is one place they can send those people to, and it is the only thing that they do there.”
“It basically means we get you in quickly. Instead of waiting six or eight weeks for your consultation … our goal target is to get you in within two or three, and if you have a biopsy, to have your biopsy done within just a few weeks of that time, and since we sort of know once that biopsy is triggered what your follow up is going to be, we can have you back for your results very quickly.”
He said patients benefit when they get to meet, back to back, on the same day, with a urologist who talks about their side of management of prostate cancer, which would be surveillance or surgery, and with a radiation oncologist, who talks about the options for raditation.
Brown said that aspect of the program has been “very well received.”
“The first time we see them and tell them about cancer, we don’t really go too in depth with the choices. We give them lots of information and support, and then they come back and get to talk about those answers when they’re in a better frame of mind to think about what we’re saying, and also have their list of questions that they would like to ask, as opposed to sort of being overwhelmed with the information all in one go.”
He said there are six urologists and three radiation oncologists who are part of the program, which opened in September 2014, and is a collaboration between Niagara Health; Walker Family Cancer Centre; urologiy, radiation and medical oncology; and the departments of pathology and diagnostic imaging.
“What we’re seeing is that, for instance, people with the lower risk kinds of prostate cancer that just need to be monitored are much more comfortable with that as a treatment option when all the specialists are telling them the same thing,” said Brown.
“We can follow those patients a lot better through the clinic setting to make sure that they stay on their prescribed routine or follow up and check ups.”
Roger Ali, president and chief executive officer of the Niagara Health Foundation, said they are grateful to all Moustache Mania participants and donors.
“Your fundraising efforts are helping to ensure that our local prostate clinic continues to provide the best possible care for men in Niagara,” he said.
Brown said future campaigns will likely look at raising money to bring in “new technology on the horizon.”