Over the past two decades, earlier detection of prostate cancer has boosted the ten-year survival rate from 67 percent to more than 90 percent.1 The number of prostate cancer survivors — including men at all stages of the disease — may continue to grow as treatments improve in the coming years.
As a result of the great strides we have made in successfully treating prostate cancer, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has incorporated a Prostate Cancer Survivorship Program into the overall care plan for our patients. This program helps men manage the physical, emotional, and psychological effects of both the disease and treatment. We provide services that specifically address the unique needs of prostate cancer survivors in the years following treatment, including:
- Physical examinations to detect recurrence of cancer
- Identification and management of the effect of cancer and its treatment on quality of life
- Screening referrals for other cancers
- Recommendations for healthy living, such as nutrition, exercise, and smoking cessation
- Treatment summary and follow-up care plan
- Communication with the primary care physician
Once your treatment is complete, your doctor will recommend that you see him or her regularly for checkups. During these exams your doctor will probably perform a PSA blood test and digital rectal exam to help ensure that your cancer has not returned.
Rehabilitation Services
The acute effects of surgery, radiation therapy, or systemic therapies for prostate cancer can cause noticeable changes in your strength, flexibility, balance, and endurance. Rehabilitation therapy can help to improve your quality of life.
At Memorial Sloan-Kettering, physical therapists work closely with the medical team to design individualized exercise programs that can help you increase your strength, endurance, and balance after treatment. We offer patients valuable techniques to increase mobility without increasing pain and discomfort after surgery. See Rehabilitation for further information about our services, including appointment information.
Sexual Health
Memorial Sloan-Kettering's comprehensive care of men with prostate cancer includes physicians, nurses, psychologists, and social workers with expertise in treating the sexual health problems that can arise from prostate cancer and the treatment of this disease.
We have a team of experts who specialize in male sexual health problems including erectile dysfunction (impotence). This includes penile rehabilitation, which is a comprehensive program to optimize the maintenance of erectile function after the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. Learn more about sexual health.
For Patients Treated with Surgery
Nurse Practitioner Mary Schoen
If you undergo radical prostatectomy you will have regularly scheduled follow-up examinations with Mary Schoen, a nurse practitioner with special training in prostate cancer survivorship issues. Ms. Schoen is a graduate of New York University's nurse practitioner program and has worked at Memorial Sloan-Kettering since 1999. She is a member of the Prostate Cancer Disease Management Team and will work closely with your surgeon to provide optimal care.
For Patients Treated with Radiation
Nurse Practitioner Robin Rawlins-Duell
If you receive radiation therapy you will have regularly scheduled follow-up examinations with Robin Rawlins-Duell, a nurse practitioner with special training in prostate cancer survivorship issues. Ms. Rawlins-Duell is a graduate of Columbia University's nurse practitioner program and has worked at Memorial Sloan-Kettering since 1991. She is a member of the Prostate Cancer Disease Management Team and will work closely your radiation oncologist to provide optimal care.
Access Information through our Patient Portal
Memorial Sloan-Kettering offers a secure website — called MYMSKCC — for Kimmel Center patients to access personalized information about their care. If you enroll to use MYMSKCC, you can view, confirm, and keep track of appointments; access many of your lab results, including PSA levels; make changes to contact and insurance information; communicate with your healthcare team and other staff using secure electronic messages; and pay bills and view balances. Learn more about MYMSKCC.
To enroll in MYMSKCC, please ask a session assistant in clinic or contact your physician's office.
1Figures from the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
