Movember A mustache for a good cause
Intro
Every year in November, men around the world are invited to grow their mustaches, to raise public awareness about male diseases, such as prostate or testicle cancer. At Clinique de Genolier, Dr. Laurent Vaucher, specialist in urology, answers our questions.
How was the Movember movement created?
Movember is an annual event born in the 2000s in Australia. With the funds raised, the Movember Charity Foundation intends to fund programs dedicated to the screening and prevention of the aforementioned cancers. Since the launch of this movement, the funds raised have supported more than 800 projects, with the aim of reducing premature male mortality by 25% by 2030.
How are these diseases diagnosed?
Early stage prostate cancer is a curable condition, but does not cause any pain nor discomfort; it is usually necessary to wait until an advanced stage of the disease to suffer from related symptoms, at which stage the cancer can no longer be cured.
For this reason, it is essential to get tested regularly, with a digital rectal examination and dosage of a blood marker, the PSA. It is a simple examination method that aims to highlight irregular or indurated areas in the prostate, which may signify the presence of cancer. If this examination can be practiced by a generalist or an urologist, it does not allow to detect all types of tumors.
The doctor must then make an assessment of the level of PSA, a protein produced in large quantities when the cancer is present. Then other tests follow, such as an MRI and the collection of a prostate tissue sample. To date, biopsy is the only way to make a definitive diagnosis. Screening tests for this type of cancer do not allow a diagnosis without performing more invasive tests, so it is up to each man to determine if he wants to perform the screening. Movember is mostly intended to educate men on this issue.
What are the treatments offered by Clinique de Genolier?
The analysis of the prostate tissue makes it possible to highlight the cancer, but also to determine its aggressiveness. The treatment will depend from this assessment. In order to improve the detection rate of cancer by biopsy, and thus to reduce the number of biopsies taken during the examination, Clinique de Genolier practices 3D ultrasound guidance with a fusion of MRI images. In case of a more aggressive disease, there are currently two ways of treatment: Surgical treatment or radiotherapy. The Clinique de Genolier has the Da Vinci Xi, a latest-generation robot surgeon. Thanks to a double-optic camera, the surgeon now enjoys a threedimensional vision, while the robot reproduces his movements with precision.