Prostate cancer care in Manchester, New Hampshire
We're here with the specialized support and care that prostate cancer requires.
At Catholic Medical Center, our compassionate team uses advanced care practices to diagnose and treat prostate cancer. We were one of the first in the United States to offer robotic-assisted surgery as a treatment option and always work to ensure you have the best chance at positive outcomes.
Symptoms of prostate cancer
Prostate cancer occurs most frequently in men older than 50, and often causes no symptoms at first. If symptoms do occur, they can include:
- Blood in semen
- Blood in urine
- Bone pain
- Erectile dysfunction
- Losing weight without trying
- Needing to urinate more than usual
- Slower than usual urine streams
Our prostate cancer treatments and services
Our specialists offer a full range of services to work towards stopping prostate cancer at the source before it can spread.
Diagnosing prostate cancer
The prostate gland sits below your bladder and in front of your rectum, making fluid that is part of semen. It also forms a ring around your urethra, the tube that carries urine out of your body. Prostate cancer happens when normal cells in your prostate gland change into abnormal cells and grow out of control.
Our doctors use a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test and a rectal exam to check for prostate cancer. In a rectal exam, your doctor or nurse inserts a finger in your anus and up into your rectum. They then press on your rectum wall to feel for abnormal areas on your prostate.
If prostate cancer is suspected, your doctor will follow up with one or more tests, which may include:
- Biopsy — We take a small sample of tissue from your prostate and review the sample under a microscope to determine whether it contains cancer.
- Imaging tests — Tests, such as ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), can create images of the inside of your body, and can show abnormal growths.
Minimally invasive surgery
Once a diagnosis has been reached, we specialize in minimally invasive surgical procedures. If you qualify for minimally invasive surgery, our surgeons typically perform a laparoscopic, robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy. We have been doing laparoscopic, robotic-assisted radical prostatectomies since 2003. This technique offers many potential benefits, such as less pain, minimal scarring and a shorter recovery time.