Bobby Koneru, Vice Chairman of the American Radium Society, Founder and President of POG, shared on LinkedIn:
“Prostate cancer treatment has a geography problem.
Today, we fixed part of it.
This morning, Dr. Ajay Bhatnagar MD,MBA and I performed the first modern LDR prostate brachytherapy cases at MercyOne Dubuque – a treatment that, until now, men in the tri-state region couldn’t access without driving hours to a university medical center.
Here’s the paradox: brachytherapy delivers among the highest rates of long-term cancer control of any prostate cancer treatment. It also offers the highest rates of sexual function preservation.
Yet access has steadily declined nationwide, with the procedure increasingly concentrated at a handful of academic centers.
So the treatment often depends less on what’s best for the patient – and more on his zip code.
When the best option requires a four-hour round trip, some men simply won’t pursue it. Many never even hear about it.
That changes now for patients in Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
The entire procedure takes under an hour. No incision. No hospital stay. One treatment instead of weeks of daily appointments. Many patients avoid hormone therapy entirely – no fatigue, no hot flashes, no choosing between curing cancer and preserving quality of life.
Our patients went home today. They’ll sleep in their own beds tonight.
Men shouldn’t have to leave their community to get world-class care. Today proved they don’t have to.
Grateful to the exceptional OR team at MercyOne who made these first cases possible. Also, special thanks to Manuj Agarwal for helping us set up this program.”
