As I understand it, the treatments available for Prostate Cancer are the same in the United States and the UK. The only difference would be the insurance system that we use here, versus the national healthcare system in the UK. There are many treatment options available for prostate cancer,
watchful waiting (doing nothing) radical prostatectomy, robotic laparoscopic prostatectomy, external beam radiation,
proton beam therapy, brachytherapy, and others. All these treatment are available in major medical centers here and overseas. The only new treatment that holds real promise that is not available here, but is available in Canada is HIFU
(it’s done with focused ultra-sounds, but I don’t know exactly what the acronym stands for) There is a website called
“You Are Not Alone” which lists every kind of treatment for prostate cancer and it is written by cancer survivors with treatment stories from people who have undergone all of these various cancer treatments. Many of the people who post stories on the site are from the UK.
It depends on what measure you’re using to define “better”, but the answer is probably No, by most measures.
A much higher percentage of men in the U.S. than in the U.K. undergo screening, biopsy, and treatment. That can good OR bad, depending on how you look at it: A much higher percentage of men in the U.S. undergo *unnecessary* screening, biopsy, and treatment than in the U.K., but a small percentage more American men have their lives prolonged because of it. (Most do not. Prostate cancer generally has such late onset, and is so slow-growing, that for every men who survives other diseases long enough to die _of_ it, six men will die _with_ it, but of unrelated causes.)
The average man diagnosed with prostate cancer in the U.S. has more years of life ahead of him than the average man diagnosed with prostate cancer in the U.K. But the comparison is not very worthwhile, because American men are, on the average screened earlier and diagnosed more liberally. Many men initially “diagnosed with prostate cancer” in the U.S. wouldn’t even be considered ill in the U.K. (Since these tend to be the men who will die of something else long before they die of prostate cancer, the diagnosis is technically accurate, but can be very misleading.)
Prostate cancer is MUCH more expensive in the U.S. than in the U.K., by at least a factor of two and probably more like five or six. From the standpoint of society at large, that means treatment in the U.K. is much more cost-effective. On the other hand, it means that almost no men in the U.K. have their final days prolonged by drugs costing $5,000 a month, but some Americans do.
Prostate cancer treatment is MUCH fairer in the U.K. than in the U.S. Any citizen of the U.K., no matter how poor, receives quite good medical care. In the U.S., a very few citizens receive much better medical care; most receive about the same; but a very substantial minority (40 to 80 million Americans) receive far worse care.
NO!!!!! We are now beginning to follow suite with Prostrate Ca as the UK and Canada is doing and have been for years.
As I understand it, the treatments available for Prostate Cancer are the same in the United States and the UK. The only difference would be the insurance system that we use here, versus the national healthcare system in the UK. There are many treatment options available for prostate cancer,
watchful waiting (doing nothing) radical prostatectomy, robotic laparoscopic prostatectomy, external beam radiation,
proton beam therapy, brachytherapy, and others. All these treatment are available in major medical centers here and overseas. The only new treatment that holds real promise that is not available here, but is available in Canada is HIFU
(it’s done with focused ultra-sounds, but I don’t know exactly what the acronym stands for) There is a website called
“You Are Not Alone” which lists every kind of treatment for prostate cancer and it is written by cancer survivors with treatment stories from people who have undergone all of these various cancer treatments. Many of the people who post stories on the site are from the UK.
here is the link: http://www.yananow.net/
It depends on what measure you’re using to define “better”, but the answer is probably No, by most measures.
A much higher percentage of men in the U.S. than in the U.K. undergo screening, biopsy, and treatment. That can good OR bad, depending on how you look at it: A much higher percentage of men in the U.S. undergo *unnecessary* screening, biopsy, and treatment than in the U.K., but a small percentage more American men have their lives prolonged because of it. (Most do not. Prostate cancer generally has such late onset, and is so slow-growing, that for every men who survives other diseases long enough to die _of_ it, six men will die _with_ it, but of unrelated causes.)
The average man diagnosed with prostate cancer in the U.S. has more years of life ahead of him than the average man diagnosed with prostate cancer in the U.K. But the comparison is not very worthwhile, because American men are, on the average screened earlier and diagnosed more liberally. Many men initially “diagnosed with prostate cancer” in the U.S. wouldn’t even be considered ill in the U.K. (Since these tend to be the men who will die of something else long before they die of prostate cancer, the diagnosis is technically accurate, but can be very misleading.)
Prostate cancer is MUCH more expensive in the U.S. than in the U.K., by at least a factor of two and probably more like five or six. From the standpoint of society at large, that means treatment in the U.K. is much more cost-effective. On the other hand, it means that almost no men in the U.K. have their final days prolonged by drugs costing $5,000 a month, but some Americans do.
Prostate cancer treatment is MUCH fairer in the U.K. than in the U.S. Any citizen of the U.K., no matter how poor, receives quite good medical care. In the U.S., a very few citizens receive much better medical care; most receive about the same; but a very substantial minority (40 to 80 million Americans) receive far worse care.