For many years, treatment of localised prostate cancer largely involved choosing between active surveillance and treatment of the whole prostate gland with surgery or radiotherapy. Modern multiparametric MRI, targeted transperineal biopsy and increasingly accurate image-guided treatment have opened a third pathway for carefully selected men: focal therapy. Rather than treating or removing the entire prostate, […]
Treating the tumour and reducing the risk of it coming back Bladder cancer has an inconvenient habit: even after a visible tumour has been completely removed, new tumours can sometimes return elsewhere in the bladder. For selected patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), previously often called superficial bladder cancer, Mitomycin C can be placed directly […]
BCG treatment, what is it? BCG, short for Bacillus Calmette–Guérin, is one of the most effective treatments available for high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). BCG is best known as a vaccine originally developed against tuberculosis. In bladder cancer, however, it is used in a very different way. Rather than being injected as a vaccination, a […]
Understanding non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, TURBT, intravesical therapy and long-term surveillance Being told that you have a bladder tumour is understandably alarming. The reassuring part is that many bladder cancers are discovered while they are still confined to the inner layers of the bladder and have not invaded the bladder muscle. This is called non-muscle-invasive bladder […]
Bladder problems are not always as straightforward as they appear. Two people may both complain of urinary urgency, leakage or difficulty emptying their bladder, yet the underlying causes can be completely different. One bladder may be contracting when it should be relaxing, another may not contract strongly enough, and sometimes the bladder is behaving perfectly […]
Finding a small mass on the kidney can be unsettling, particularly when it appears unexpectedly on an ultrasound or CT scan performed for something completely unrelated. The reassuring news is that small does not automatically mean dangerous, and a renal mass does not automatically mean kidney cancer. Even when a small renal mass is malignant, […]
Foreskins come in all shapes and sizes. Some are short, some sit neatly over the tip of the penis, and others extend well beyond the glans, occasionally giving the penis the appearance that it has ordered the extra-long sleeve option. A long foreskin, sometimes described medically as a redundant or elongated prepuce, is usually simply […]
Sudden testicular pain is an emergency. This is not a “wait until tomorrow and see how it goes” situation. There are few occasions in life when being twisted is definitely not a good thing. Testicular torsion is one of them. Testicular torsion occurs when a testicle rotates around the spermatic cord, twisting the blood vessels […]
Paraphimosis is one of those urological problems where the phrase “I’ll see how it goes overnight” is not a particularly good plan. It occurs when the foreskin of an uncircumcised penis is pulled back behind the head of the penis (glans) and becomes trapped there. The tight band of foreskin can interfere with normal drainage […]
The long and the short of it Penile size is one of those subjects that generates enormous interest, considerable anxiety and, unfortunately, a remarkable amount of questionable information on the internet. Men may quietly compare themselves with partners, friends’ exaggerated stories, pornography, locker-room mythology or, apparently, the occasional cucumber. So, does penile size actually matter? […]