On Focus

Joining me today is Gemma Harris, a physiotherapist who specialises in helping people regain strength and confidence following a cancer diagnosis and treatment. Before establishing the Wellbeing and Rehab Collective in Surrey where she currently practices, Gemma was part of the exercise medicine team at Genesis Care, an internationally recognised group of cancer care specialists.  She’s here today to discuss how Exercise medicine is regarded by many as a key element of cancer recovery and how she works with men who have been diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer. 

https://wellbeingandrehabcollective.co.uk/

Joining On Focus today is Dr Francesco Giganti, Associate Professor and honorary Consultant in Radiology at University College London. 

Francesco is an acknowledged leader in researching imaging of the prostate, and in identifying new approaches to improve its accuracy in diagnosis and its effectiveness in treatment. He has co-authored over 200 publications reporting on investigations into multiple clinical, technological, and systemic challenges to prostate imaging, and his work has had, and continues to have, profound impact on clinical practice.  

He’s here today to talk about how MRI has transformed the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer,  and what challenges need to be overcome to ensure that this transformational and continually evolving element of the diagnostic pathway is available and accessible to all men.

Research publications by Francesco Giganti: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Francesco-Giganti-2

Elvin Box, a popular and passionate advocate for men with prostate cancer joins this episode of onFocus. Diagnosed in 2016, Elvin is a Movember UK ambassador and has written and campaigned extensively on a number of issues impacting men and their families as they experience a diagnosis of prostate cancer and navigate treatment options. He’s here today at the end of Mens Health Week to share his perspective on mens health awareness and how prostate cancer fits into this. 

https://uk.movember.com/

Marc Laniado, Consultant Urologist at with The Focal Therapy Clinic and a leading innovator in imaging led diagnostics and targeted treatments for prostate cancer, joins On Focus in this episode.

Marc has been a vocal advocate for the rights of patients to be informed about their treatment choices from his base at Frimley Health, where he is prostate cancer lead at Wexham Park Hospital. He’s also a dedicated practitioner in optimising treatment choices for patients, and has built a reputation in identifying and delivering the right treatment for each patient, based on precise diagnostics and comprehensive discussion about lifestyle, aspirations and relationships. He’s here today to speak about how some recent media attention on Active Surveillance might be interpreted, and what men diagnosed with localised prostate need to know about their treatment choices. 

Marc discusses the ProtecT trial: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2214122

Joining OnFocus today is Oliver Kemp, CEO of Prostate Cancer Research in the UK and Director of PCR inc in the USA, whose missions Oliver describes as “to use our deep understanding of patient priorities and the research ecosystem to enable and implement the innovations that have greatest potential for impact, and to help scientists forge the connections and collaborations which will keep their work at the cutting-edge.”

https://www.prostate-cancer-research.org.uk/

Joining OnFocus today is Alan Doherty, Clinical Director at the Birmingham Prostate Clinic, and recently voted one of the UK’s top ten prostate cancer specialists in a national poll of consultant urologists published in the Daily Mail.

Alan has been an innovator, advocate and dedicated practitioner of precision treatments for prostate cancer, and joined the Focal Therapy Clinic last year to develop his expertise in delivering focal therapy.  In addition to HIFU focal therapy, Alan has embraced IRE or NanoKnife focal treatments with great success for his patients, which has reinforced his views on early diagnosis and, in particular, prostate cancer screening. He’s here today to speak with me about how advancements in and success with focal therapy change the discussion around screening.

Marc has been a vocal advocate for the rights of patients to be informed about their treatment choices from his base at Frimley Health, where he is prostate cancer lead at Wexham Park Hospital. He’s also a dedicated practitioner in optimising treatment choices for patients, and has built a reputation in identifying and delivering the right treatment for each patient, based on precise diagnostics and comprehensive discussion about lifestyle, aspirations and relationships. He’s here today to speak with me about a relatively new treatment - IRE focal therapy, also known as the NanoKnife – that he’s been offering to patients and how he sees this developing in futureMarc Laniado, Consultant Urologist at with The Focal Therapy Clinic and a leading innovator in imaging led diagnostics and targeted treatments for prostate cancer is today’s OnFocus guest.

Brian Bishop joins OnFocus to discuss his experience with NanoKnife treatment for prostate cancer. Brian is 77 and lives in Virginia Water since retiring from a career in the airline industry, and was diagnosed with prostate cancer in May 2022. A few months later he was treated by TFTC Consultant Urologist Marc Laniado with a form of focal therapy that uses electric current to ablate cancerous tissues, also known as the NanoKnife.

Graham Pipe, a recent patient at the Focal Therapy Clinic who underwent HIFU treatment with Consultant Urologist Tim Dudderidge following a diagnosis of localised prostate cancer, joins OnFocus to discuss the process he went through to seek an alternative treatment which would maintain his active lifestyle. Age 70 and recently retired from a career as a Chartered Building Surveyor, Graham describes himself as Young at heart who loves travelling abroad and is married 47 years to the love of his life, who is a model.

This episode’s interviewee is Arvin George, Assistant Professor of Urology at the University of Michigan School of Medicine in the USA. A Urologic Surgeon specializing in the diagnosis and management of genitourinary cancers, Professor George’s  research interests include minimally invasive and image-guided treatments, functional prostate imaging and focal therapy for prostate cancer, and he has published widely in these areas. He is also a practicing consulting urologist who has been a leading voice globally on focal therapy and whose contributions to building the evidence base for it have been invaluable to advancing the practice and making focal therapy more accessible to a wider group of patients. Arvin George is here today to share insights from his research and his clinical practice.

Arvin George’s publications:

https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Arvin-K-George-2144216305