Urologic Oncology

Urologic cancers include prostate, kidney, bladder and testicular cancer.

No matter what type of urologic cancer you have, Ochsner has the expertise to manage your care.

Our urologic oncology team is made up of highly skilled physicians who meet regularly to discuss your journey from diagnosis to wellness. Our team has decades of collective experience in urology, medical oncology, radiation oncology and surgery.

Our specialists use the latest screening, diagnostic and treatment guidelines set by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the American Cancer Society.

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer in men, second only to skin cancer. A third of men diagnosed with prostate cancer may not need treatment. But for those that do, Ochsner oncologists will create a personalized treatment plan for each patient.

Treatment options for prostate cancer offered at Ochsner include:

• Active surveillance: For patients with low-grade prostate cancer (usually defined by a lower Gleason grade) that has not spread, your doctor might choose to monitor your cancer without immediate treatment. The goal is to provide an alternative to invasive interventions, such as surgery or radiation.
• Prostatectomy: A prostatectomy is the surgical removal of the prostate. Since surgery can lead to loss of erectile function or urinary continence, our surgeons use novel nerve-sparing and urinary-sphincter sparing approaches during surgery to ensure your quality of life is maintained.
• Radiation: While a urologist does not provide radiation treatment to the prostate, our surgeons realize that both surgery and surveillance may not be appropriate or desired by you. We encourage all our patients to discuss radiation with their urologist and consider referral to radiation oncology to discuss this treatment in further detail.
• High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU): This minimally invasive treatment for localized prostate cancer uses high-frequency sound waves to destroy the cancerous tissue. An ultrasound probe is inserted into the rectum and the high intensity sound waves heat up and ablate the targeted tissue, causing cell death. For men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer, HIFU provides another alternative between active surveillance, and radical surgery and radiation. HIFU is a minimally invasive, outpatient procedure. No incisions are made during treatment.

For prostate cancer that has spread, hormone therapy or chemotherapy may be recommended. Our surgeons will work closely with medical oncologists to create a treatment plan. 

In some cases, enrollment in a clinical trial may be best for you. You can discuss this with your surgeon.

Kidney cancer affects the kidney, which filters waste in the blood to make urine. There is no screening available for kidney cancer, so it often is diagnosed when it's found on imaging tests. 

Treatment options for kidney cancer offered at Ochsner include:

• Active surveillance: For patients with small renal masses, your doctor may choose to monitor your cancer as al alternative to a more invasive intervention treatment option, like surgery.
• Partial or radical nephrectomy: A partial nephrectomy is the removal of the cancerous mass on the kidney. This is possible in most cases, but in certain cases where the cancer is large or is in an unfavorable location is unfavorable, removal of the whole kidney may be required. This is called radical nephrectomy. Both surgeries can be done through a traditional, open approach, but also through a minimally invasive or robotic surgery approach using the Da Vinci Robotic Platform. Ask your surgeon which approach is best for you.

For kidney cancer that has spread, immunotherapy or surgery might be options for treatment. In certain cases, a clinical trial may be the best approach.

Testicular cancer affects the paired organs located in the scrotum of men. No screening program exists for testicular cancer, so it is often diagnosed when patients find a mass in the scrotum during a self-exam. Family history of testicular cancer is the strongest risk factor.

Treatment options for testicular cancer offered at Ochsner include:

• Radical orchiectomy: This is the removal of the testicle and testicular cord through a small abdominal incision. This procedure often cures the cancer, and is the standard treatment for testicular cancer.

Advanced testicular cancer is often found in the lymph nodes in the abdomen. At Ochsner, urologic oncologists work closely with medical and radiation oncologists to provide a personalized treatment plan that may require chemotherapy plus surgery or radiation. A retroperitoneal lymph node dissections, a procedure to remove lymph nodes that may contain cancer from the back of your abdomen, is often an option for advanced testicular cancer.

Bladder cancer can be non-muscle invasive or muscle invasive. Non-muscle invasive of bladder cancer has not spread into the bladder muscle layer. Muscle invasive bladder cancer is a more aggressive form of bladder cancer that has spread to the muscle layer of the bladder wall. 

When a mass is found in the bladder during a cystoscopy (a procedure where a camera is used to look inside the bladder), the next step is usually surgery. This surgery, called a transurethral resection of the bladder tumor, helps diagnose the tumor and can also remove it completely.  

Treatment options for bladder cancer offered at Ochsner include:

• For non-muscle invasive bladder cancer: Treatments like immunotherapy or chemotherapy can be used to stop the cancer from coming back or spreading. These treatments stay in the bladder and don’t get absorbed by the body, so they don’t cause side effects like nausea, vomiting, hair loss or fatigue.  
  • At Ochsner, we commonly use a treatment called Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), along with other new therapies that work just as well or even better. For patients whose cancer comes back after BCG, we also offer clinical trials for those who want to avoid bladder removal surgery and keep their bladder.
• For muscle invasive bladder cancer: The current standard treatment for this type of bladder cancer is intravenous chemotherapy and radical cystectomy (removal of the bladder) with urinary diversion (a surgical procedure that creates a new way for urine to leave the body).
  • Our surgeons can perform robotic and open radical cystectomy as well as all types of urinary diversion, including ileal conduit, colon pouches, continent cutaneous urinary diversions, and orthotopic neobladders.

Your care team will connect you with a network of experts in nutrition, physical therapy, social work, financial assistance, nurse navigation, spiritual care, language services and other supportive programs.

Whether you are newly diagnosed or on the road to wellness, we are committed to improving your health and lifestyle. Talk to your specialist to learn how you can get help for unexpected needs, including affordable or free lodging for family members involved in your care.

U.S. News & World Report named Ochsner Medical Center – New Orleans as a “High Performing” hospital for Prostate Cancer Surgery.