MaineHealth Urology - South Portland provides multidisciplinary, subspecialty care for genitourinary cancer. Genitourinary cancers affect the urinary tract, bladder, kidneys, prostate, testicles and penis.
Advanced Genitourinary Cancer Care
Our multidisciplinary team of medical oncology, surgery and radiation specialists meets regularly to discuss patient cases and determine the best treatments.
- Urologic surgeons perform surgery using the da Vinci® surgical robotic system. All of our urologic surgeons have received advanced training in robotic surgery. We were early adopters of robotic assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) in the United States (2003) and have performed the most RARP procedures in Maine (over 1500).
- Radiation oncologists use advanced technology to treat prostate and other genitourinary cancers. They are part of Maine’s largest radiation oncology program – accredited by the American College of Radiology.
- Medical oncologists specialize in treating cancer with medication, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy and hormonal therapy.
- Clinical patient navigators are experienced cancer nurses who serve as your advocate and care coordinator.
Improved Diagnosis & Treatment of Prostate Cancer
MaineHealth Maine Medical Center and the prostate cancer specialists at MaineHealth Urology - South Portland offer the latest technology in the screening, diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. Our team combines magnetic resonance images with ultrasound to identify and precisely target tissue to be biopsied for testing.
Genitourinary cancer, also called GU cancer, refers to cancers in the parts of the body that play a role in reproduction, getting rid of waste products in the form of urine, or both. GU cancers include prostate cancer, one of the most common cancers diagnosed at Maine Medical Center Cancer Institute.
Types of cancer treated in the Genitourinary Cancer Program include:
MaineHealth Urology - South Portland offers the region's most comprehensive array of treatment resources, including clinical trials that are testing new approaches to treatment.
Medical Oncology
Chemotherapy is any treatment involving the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. It may consist of single drugs or combinations of drugs, and can be administered through a vein or delivered orally in the form of a pill. Immunotherapy is a type of treatment that uses the body’s immune system to facilitate the killing of cancer cells. It uses materials made either by the body or in a laboratory to improve, target, or restore immune system function.
Surgery
Surgical options include nerve-sparing procedures for prostate, testicular and bladder cancers; laparoscopy for kidney cancer; and state-of-the-art lower urinary tract reconstruction and organ-sparing approaches for bladder cancer.
Radiation Therapy
Our American College of Radiology (ACR)-accredited program is the only one in Maine. We offer comprehensive and advanced therapeutic options, including high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).
Clinical Trials
MaineHealth physicians and scientists are continuously looking for better ways to treat patients with cancer. They create and participate in research studies involving volunteers, called clinical trials. In fact, every drug that is now FDA-approved was previously tested in clinical trials. Learn more about clinical trials.
MaineHealth Urology - South Portland consistently demonstrates clinical outcomes that meet or exceed national benchmarks. Below are Quality of Life measures for men who were treated for prostate cancer.
| Age Group | Avg. Age | Normal Urinary Function 2 Years After Treatment | Normal Erectile Function 2 Years After Treatment | ||
| Normal urinary function before treatment | Abnormal urinary function before treatment | * RT Alone | * RT w/ Hormone | ||
| <60 | 56 | 78% (14/18) | 75% (6/8) | 67% (8/12) | 20% (1/5) |
| 60-69 | 64 | 85% (47/55) | 63% (25/40) | 76% (29/38) | 21% (4/19) |
| 70+ | 73 | 89% (50/56) | 67% (29/43) | 61% (14/23) | 8% (1/12) |
* Includes patients treated with High Dose Rate (HDR) internal beam, or Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) external beam, or both.
| Age Group | Avg. Age | Normal Urinary Function 2 Years After Treatment | Normal Erectile Function 2 Years After Treatment | ||
| Bilateral Nerve Sparing | Unilateral Nerve Sparing | No Nerve Sparing | |||
| <60 | 55 | 86% (249/293) | 78% (141/180) | 59% (55/94) | 25% (1/4) |
| 60-69 | 64 | 79% (299/380) | 64% (116/180) | 45% (50/112) | 22% (6/27) |
| 70+ | 71 | 65% (48/77) | 67% (14/24) | 61% (11/25) | 0% (0/7) |
Robotic assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy
