Prostate & Urologic Cancers Program

For patients with advanced disease, our medical oncology team offers breakthrough clinical trials using new combinations of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and novel targeted agents. Our team has national and international leadership in clinical trials for prostate, bladder and kidney cancer. Laparoscopic and robotic surgical options are available to our patients, in addition to traditional surgical techniques. Smilow Cancer Hospital has the most advanced daVinci robotic surgical technology for radical prostatectomy.

Our patients who need radiation therapy as a component of their prescribed treatment can feel confident that they are receiving the highest quality care from the most experienced team of radiation oncologists in Connecticut. The first to offer intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), our physicians have the longest experience with it in Connecticut. As a result, we have accumulated vast experience with IMRT and have continued to enhance the techniques for its delivery, which has led to extremely minimal complication rates of one percent.

Targeted Prostate Biopsies Using the Artemis Device

We are the only program in Connecticut that uses a novel technique to perform targeted biopsies of the prostate. This high-tech approach uses MRI combined with the Artemis device, a 3-D imaging navigation system that allows us to image the prostate and take pictures in order to overlap them with a real-time ultrasound to help guide needles during biopsy. This allows doctors to take future biopsies in the exact same spot in the prostate where previous lesions were found, enabling them to better monitor the troublesome part of the gland. A UCLA study published in the Journal of Urology found that targeted biopsies were three times more likely than conventional biopsies to detect cancer.

New technology and expertise at Yale Medicine now makes it possible to visualize a prostate tumor within the gland, improving its detection, location and staging. Smilow Cancer Hospital offers the only program in Connecticut that uses a novel technique to perform targeted biopsies of the prostate. This high-tech approach uses MRI combined with the Artemis device to locate and biopsy areas in the prostate. This technique has been shown to have a much higher cancer detection rate than standard biopsy. The technique brings together expertise in urology, pathology, radiology and engineering.

Hereditary Kidney Cancer Program

Kidney cancer is one of the most common cancers, occurring in one to two percent of individuals in their lifetime. While many cancers were believed to occur sporadically, it’s now understood that approximately five to eight percent of kidney cancers have a genetic predisposition. To care for these patients, we have established a Hereditary Kidney Cancer Program to both assist in determining if there is a genetic predisposition to kidney cancer and to help limit resulting complications.