The Urologic Oncology Center

St. Joseph Medical Center’s Urologic Oncology Center provides experienced, coordinated care to patients who have been diagnosed with a urologic malignancy.  Until recently, urologic cancers were some of the most difficult to treat, but luckily for these patients, the Urologic Oncology Center is home to some of the most experience and highly credentialed urologic oncology specialists in Maryland.  

If you or a loved one are diagnosed with a urologic cancer, you can take comfort in knowing the physicians at St. Josephs Urologic Cancer Center are trained on the most up-to-date treatments for prostate, kidney and bladder cancer, among others, meaning patients can receive treatment for these complicated diseases on our suburban campus, close to home.

Because urologic cancers often require a variety of treatments, the Center takes a multidisciplinary approach to fighting them, involving specialists from oncology, radiation oncology, urology and pathology. 

Prostate Cancer

St. Joseph Medical Center is a leader in the area in the treatment of prostate cancer.  We were the first community hospital to offer the
da Vinci robotic assisted surgical system, for the removal of diseased prostates. Since its introduction in early 2005, over 500 prostatectomies have been performed at St. Joseph making it the most experienced community hospital in the state of Maryland.

For patients who are not candidates for the da Vinci system, three other state-of-the-art treatments are available: standard laparoscopic surgery, brachytherapy and cryotherapy. 

• Laparoscopic surgery: Laparoscopic, or minimally invasive, surgery for urologic cancers was first introduced in the 1990s and today, nearly every procedure that had been performed using conventional, open-incision surgeries, can now be performed laparoscopically. For the patient requiring prostate surgery, the benefits of the laparoscopic approach over conventional surgery include less post operative pain, less pain medication usage, shorter recovery time and a quicker return to normal activities.

• Brachytherapy (radioactive seed implantation):  This treatment has seen tremendous improvement since its inception in the 1960s. The use of brachytherapy involves the implantation of radioactive seeds directly into the prostate, meaning the radiation will only have to travel outward a short distance to its cancerous target. This allows for a greater concentration of radiation to be directed precisely where it can do the most good, as well as allowing for higher dosage levels to be attained, while virtually eliminating damage to healthy tissue.

• Cryotherapy: Often used when other therapies have not been successful in treating prostate cancer, this technique uses freezing to destroy cancer without the risks of major surgery or radiation. Cryotherapy is gaining in popularity as a treatment for prostate cancer among both patients and physicians. Advances in technology help keep surrounding tissues unharmed by the extreme cold. Liquid argon is circulated within the tumor and the surrounding blood vessels. The tissue is then thawed with an injection of helium gas and the freeze/thaw cycle is repeated once more, thus killing the tumor and its blood supply.

Kidney Cancer

Every year, nearly 30,000 Americans are diagnoses with some form of kidney cancer. For patients suffering from this condition, St. Joseph offers the most advanced care offered anywhere. Indeed, St. Joseph pioneered minimally invasive (laparoscopic) kidney surgery and remains the top community hospital in Baltimore for such procedures. 

With laparoscopic kidney removal, of either a portion of the kidney or the entire organ, the surgery is far less invasive than open-abdomen procedures and patients can return to normal activities in a fraction of the time previously required for recovery.  Not every patient is a candidate for laparoscopic kidney surgery, and for those who are not, conventional, open surgery is still performed at St. Joseph with similar success rates to laparoscopic surgery.

However, for patients who are elderly or at high risk from surgery; who have an underlying condition such as diabetes or kidney disease; or who have only one kidney, traditional surgery is not always the best option.  For these patients, cryotherapy may be used as an alternate method of treatment.  This laparoscopic procedure may be employed to attempt to “kill” the tumor by freezing it, while the tumor is still in the body, and prevent it from further spreading to other organs.  Cryotherapy achieves the best results when the cancer has not spread to other organs.

Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer accounts for nearly 90 percent of urinary tract cancers and is most prevalent in industrialized nations, such as ours.  Incidence of bladder cancer increases with age, with people over the age of 70 developing the disease two to three times more often than those aged 55–69 and 15 to 20 times more often than those aged 30–54.

Bladder cancer is also two to three times more common in men than in women. In the United States, approximately 38,000 men and 15,000 women are diagnosed with the disease each year. Bladder cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in men and the eighth most common type in women. The disease is more prevalent in Caucasians than in African Americans and Hispanics.

The treatment of bladder cancer is relatively straightforward, with removal of the bladder constituting the most common surgical approach.  Where the urologic surgeons at St. Joseph stand above their peers is with their ability to remove the bladder while still allowing for an appliance-free lifestyle.  They are able to form an internal pouch, which serves as a type of man-made bladder, which is then emptied via a catheter.

The mission of the Urologic Cancer Center is to see patients through each stage of their disease, from diagnosis through treatment and follow-up care. Our staff strives to treat the whole person and offer guidance throughout the journey.

For more information about urologic cancer, its forms and treatment options, please call 410-337-1337 for referral to one of our urologic surgeons.