Date published: 01.09.08 - not release date

LOCAL PRIVATE HOSPITAL OFFERS RADICAL NEW PROSTATE CANCER TEST

A new prostate cancer test that could transform the way the disease is diagnosed and treated is now available at Spire Roding Hospital, Spire Healthcare’s private hospital in Redbridge near Ilford in Essex.

Top urological surgeon Shiv Bhanot believes the PCA3Plus test is more effective than the more commonly available PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test.

Prostate cancer is diagnosed in about 35,000 men in Britain every year, and 10,000 a year die from the disease. The standard tool for detection of the disease is the PSA test, which looks at raised levels of protein in the blood that leaks out of the prostate gland.

But the new test measures a genetic chemical messenger RNA which transfers DNA instructions form the PCA3 gene. Elevated scores are produced only when cancer is present.

“The PSA test can sometimes provide misleading results, but the PCA3Plus test is much more specific,” said Mr Bhanot. “I think it will transform the diagnosis of prostate cancer because it will help doctors decide whether or not to proceed with multiple biopsies, which are painful and can have unwanted side effects,”

Spire Roding Hospital has a long history of introducing new advanced surgical procedures and diagnostic technology, they recently introduced laparoscopic prostate surgery, meaning patients have the best treatment options for prostate cancer surgery available to them.

Mr Shiv Bhanot is one of few surgeons in UK with extensive experience in treating prostate cancer by both open and keyhole techniques. He is currently training surgeons from across the UK in new surgical techniques for treatment of prostate cancer.

Anyone interested in having the test should contact Spire Roding Hospital on 020 8709 7878.

Other Spire Healthcare private hospitals that offer the PCA3Plus test are: Spire Bushey Hospital in Watford, Hertfordshire; Spire Tunbridge Wells Hospital in Kent and Spire Gatwick Park Hospital in Surrey.

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For more info or to interview Mr Shiv Bhanot, contact:

Rosie Elston at Spire Roding Hospital
Email: rosie.elston@spirehealthcare.com

Notes to editors:

Spire Healthcare is one of the leading independent hospital providers in the UK, with a 25 year heritage of customer service and clinical excellence. It was formed this year from the sale of BUPA Hospitals to leading private equity company Cinven.

Spire Healthcare has 25 hospitals across the UK, providing services for private and insured patients as well as NHS funded patients under the government’s Choose and Book scheme. It also offers cosmetic and weight-loss surgery.

Its hospitals carry out more than 160,000 in-patient and day-case treatments a year and work with over 3,000 consultants. It is proud to be the 1st independent hospital group to publish clinical outcome data.

LINKS:

www.spirehealthcare.com/roding

Prostate biopsy – Spire Healthcare treatment summary

Prostate cancer treatment by HIFU – Spire Healthcare treatment summary