Abhinav Sidana Archives

Combination of Prostate Ablation with Systemic Therapy for Management of Prostate

Posted by Abhinav Sidana, MD, MPH | Jun 2024

Abhinav Sidana, MD, MPH, addresses the integration of prostate ablation with systemic therapy for the management of prostate cancer. This strategy aims at improving treatment outcomes through synergistic effects and personalized care.
Prostate ablation techniques, including cryoablation or high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), target localized prostate tumors while preserving surrounding healthy tissue. Dr. Sidana emphasizes that these minimally invasive procedures offer potential advantages over traditional treatments by reducing treatment-related side effects such as urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. The integration of systemic therapy, such as hormonal therapy or chemotherapy, complements prostate ablation by addressing systemic disease and enhancing treatment efficacy.
By leveraging both local and systemic treatment modalities, clinicians can tailor treatment strategies to individual patient profiles, ultimately improving long-term survival and quality of life for prostate cancer patients.

The Who and Why of Focal Therapies

Posted by Abhinav Sidana, MD, MPH | Mar 2024

Abhinav Sidana, MD, MPH, discusses the selection processes, objectives, and data supporting the use of focal therapy to treat prostate cancer. He begins with an overview of the state of focal therapy, and how it can be used to provide more personalized prostate cancer treatment to patients.

Dr. Sidana then compares the weaknesses of focal therapy to those of radical surgery and surveillance. He notes that while focal therapy has been criticized for its shortcomings in addressing “invisible” and multifocal cancers, radical surgery has permanent negative effects on patient QOL and that many patients on active surveillance drop out after a certain length of time.

Dr. Sidana then addresses recent advances in focal therapy which can partially mitigate some of the shortcomings of focal therapy. He focuses on advancements in MRI accuracy and specificity which makes treating multifocal and previously invisible clinically significant cancers using focal therapy effective.

Dr. Sidana concludes by outlining strategies for patient selection for focal therapy. He presents examples of ideal patient and disease characteristics for focal therapy treatment and lists relevant contraindications.

Selecting Candidates for Focal Therapy

Posted by Abhinav Sidana, MD, MPH | Apr 2023

Abhinav Sidana, MD, discusses candidate selection for focal therapy, including imaging/biopsy strategies and disease/patient characteristics.

Rationale for Focal Therapy for Prostate Cancer

Posted by Abhinav Sidana, MD, MPH | Mar 2021

Abhinav Sidana, MD, Urologic Surgeon at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, makes a case for the adoption of focal therapy for patients with prostate cancer as an alternative to radical treatment or active surveillance. To show how incorporating focal therapy into the treatment paradigm could help personalize care, Dr. Sidana highlights three points: the shortcomings of a treatment strategy that involves only dichotomous options; the increasing need for treatment tailored to the biology of prostate cancer; and how the advent of visible prostate cancer due to next-generation imaging has altered treatment approaches. Following this, Dr. Sidana takes questions from E. David Crawford, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Grand Rounds in Urology, about related topics, including the role of micro-ultrasound in the disease space and the patient followup process.