Marvin Folker cannot remember exactly how he came to have a prostate screening in 2002, but the East Moline man now knows he owes his life to that decision.

Folker, 72, says he spent the first two years after his diagnosis of early stage prostate cancer considering his treatment options.

He took female hormone shots, but feared surgery and radiation.

It wasn’t until this year, when he read in an insurance magazine about a relatively new treatment for the disease, that the longtime Quad-City resident felt there was another possibility.

“I saw the article about cryosurgery, and a few months later my urologist talked to me about it and said it has about a 94 percent success rate,” Folker said.

Cryosurgery, also called cryotherapy, works by freezing the prostate to super-cold temperatures, killing the diseased tissue, while leaving surrounding healthy tissue intact.

It is radiation-free and patients generally go home either the same day or next day with very little discomfort.

Urologists say the treatment is not perfect, and isn’t for everyone.

But for the nearly 220,000 men in the United States diagnosed with prostate cancer each year, it is simply another option.

“I’m not saying this is the ‘cat’s meow’ or the best technique — it probably isn’t. But it gives another option and that’s very important,” said Dr. Roger Lubbers, a urologist at Urological Group Ltd. on John Deere Road in Moline.

Lubbers practices at Trinity’s 7th Street Campus and Genesis Medical Center, Illini Campus.

He was instrumental in bringing this technology, which is only offered at approximately 145 institutions worldwide, to the Quad-Cities.

Cryosurgery is a relatively new treatment for prostate cancer.

“This technique is only about 15 to 16 years old,” Lubbers said. “The equipment is very expensive, so very few centers want to spend money on it, and therefore companies have begun renting the equipment out, which is how we get it.”

He said almost anyone with prostate cancer is a potential candidate for the treatment, but he warns that those looking to escape the side effects feared by other treatment methods will not want to choose cryotherapy.

“There are potential complications with surgery and with radiation, as well as with cryotherapy,” Lubbers said. “The main risks of surgery are incontinence, which is a lack of bladder control, and impotence. And with cryosurgery the impotence rate is extremely high, approaching 100 percent.”

Still though, urologists say that the treatment works pretty well and has few other side effects.

“The side effects may be fewer than with surgery and radiation, and for many men approaching their late 60s and early 70s, potency is not the concern. People are more concerned about being alive,” Lubbers said.

As for the issue of impotence, local physicians say there are a number of measures (from Viagra to an implanted silicone device) that can be done to help.

They said the treatment method for prostate cancer is always decided on a patient to patient basis.

For many men, by the time symptoms occur, the disease may have spread beyond the prostate. Although in most men the cancer grows very slowly.

Depending in part on whether a tumor has spread, some choose radiation therapy or surgery, while many others opt for “watchful waiting.”

In general, surgery is not performed on men over 75 years of age.

“The person needs to have a 10-year life expectancy,” Lubbers said. “Those who do not want surgery or radiation are the candidates.”

The method also is suited for patients that have previously undergone radiation therapy but experience a localized recurrence of prostate cancer.

Lubbers said he had two cryosurgery patients in May, including Folker, and has more cases scheduled this month.

“The jury is still out on the success of the procedure,” he said. “There is some data that shows patients do just as well as with surgery or radiation, but other data is not as encouraging.”

It will take years to fully gauge it’s success, Lubbers added.

For Folker, who underwent cryosurgery about 10 weeks ago, his decision to have the procedure was a good one.

“I really didn’t want to have surgery because the prostate is right by your colon so one slip and I’d be on a bag for life,” he said. “And after going through cryosurgery, I would recommend it to anybody. There is very little discomfort with it, very little bother.”

With his wife of 51 years, Jean, and five children, Folker said he has many reasons to be healthy.

Now cancer-free, he said he encourages other men to get regular prostate screenings like he did.

“Prostate cancer is an epidemic,” he said.

Local health officials say screenings are recommended for men over 50.

Those with a family history and African-American men should get tested at 40.

Lubbers said prostate cancer is “a disease that is coming out of the closet more and more every day.”

Thanks to growing acceptance of PSA testing, a simple blood test to determine the likelihood of prostate cancer, more men are being diagnosed with the disease in its early stages and are receiving treatment.

“Men are getting more aggressive,” Lubbers said.

As for cryosurgery, doctors do not see it replacing the other treatments.

“We’re seeing modest interest in it, and I think it does hold a place,” Lubbers said. “And like I said before, the most important this is to be able to offer it as another option.”

Folker said his doctors believe “everything went perfectly” with his procedure.

Although he’s retired, Folker keeps active, taking care of the lawn at his church and gardening with his wife.

“I just feel great,” he said.

Rachelle Treiber can be contacted at (563) 383-2363 or rtreiber@qctimes.com.
Copyright © 2004

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