Penobscot Bay Medical Center Urologist Dr. Martyn Vickers and Elizabeth Tulip, PAC have been asked to present study their findings at the New England Section of the American Urological Association annual meeting this fall.

Vickers, a specialist in cryoablation treatment for prostate cancer who practices at Pen Bay Urology in Rockport, and Tulip are the only non-academic presenters at this conference.

The 78th annual meeting of the New England Section of the American Urological Association will take place in Washington, DC, in September. Specifically, Vickers will present findings from his recent study entitled "Indication for Prostate Biopsy following Primary Total Surgical Cryoablation of the Prostate: Sensitivity of ASTRO Criteria."

"The implications these findings could have for all cryosurgery patients, and their relevancy in aiding urologists worldwide is significant," said Dr. Dana Goldsmith, vice president for medical affairs at Penobscot Bay Medical Center. "It's a honor, for PBMC, and for Dr. Vickers, to have been chosen by a peer-review board to introduce his new clinical research in Washington, DC among leading academics from New England and beyond"

In 2002 Vickers was the first doctor in Maine to use cryosurgery as a definitive treatment of prostate cancer. Cryosurgery, a minimally invasive procedure – the use of targeted freezing to destroy cancer cells – is an alternative to radical surgery or radiation therapy for those who have been diagnosed with localized prostate cancer.

After performing more than 100 cryoablative procedures, Vickers has defined a criterion that may save such patients from undergoing repeat post-op prostate biopsies. Using a prostate-produced antigen, PSA, as a marker for risk of recurring post-operative cancer, Dr. Vickers has determined a level at which doctors should consider a biopsy. Those patients whose PSA values have shown little to no increase following their cryosurgery can be reassured that there is no need for repeat biopsy. There has been no evidence of active cancer found in those not needing, according to these guidelines, a re-biopsy.

"It's like coming to a stoplight," said Vickers. "If PSA values stay low, the patient gets a green light and avoids biopsy. If the PSA values have increased past the standards set forth in this study, then you get a yellow light and consider a repeat biopsy of the prostate to check for residual cancer."

These guiding principles represent an important change in the follow-up care for prostate cancer patients who have been treated with cryo surgery. Vickers believes that the new indicators will significantly decrease the number of patients undergoing post-cryo biopsies while expediting biopsies in those that are likely to have residual cancer.

"These indicators may save patients pain, risk of infection, and money that might otherwise be wasted on needless procedures by drastically reducing the number of biopsies," said Vickers.

Vickers joined the Pen Bay Urology team in 2006, bringing with him expertise in the fields of erectile dysfunction, neuro-urological disease and prostate cancer therapy with cryoablation as well as ongoing research in the field of urology and worldwide teaching and lecturing experience. Pen Bay Urology is online at pbmc.org/urology.