The feature article in this issue of Our Voice focuses on technological advances in prostate cancer treatment; Dr. Arjun Sahgal and colleagues give us a good illustration of the evolution of changes that have occurred in how radiation therapy is administered. The high precision of the newer approaches allows us not only to increase the radiation dose to achieve better cancer control, but also to do so in a way that is safer for patients, causing fewer harmful side effects.
Innovations in technology are not only taking place in the field of radiation therapy, as the article by Sylvain Dottin recounts. Faced with making a decision about which treatment to undergo, Sylvain Dottin found himself a candidate for radical prostatecomy using the relatively new robotic technique, which is slowly making inroads in Canada. What has become a standard option for many of our neighbours in the United States is now available in at least four Canadian provinces.
In Canada, maintaining our capacity to offer all these new treatment options to our patients remains a complex and sometimes difficult exercise. Nevertheless, we are getting there — and this is largely due to the generous support of patients and their families and friends. As the article on charitable donations shows, support can be manifested in time and energy given to the various charities as well as through financial contributions to the organization of your choice.
The importance of supporting the fight against prostate cancer can’t be stressed enough. Whatever help individuals can bring, in whatever form, is crucial. It will be thanks to our common efforts that we succeed one day in beating this disease, which now affects one out of every seven Canadian man.
