Dr. Spratt on the urologist’s role in helping to manage patients' fears

A recent survey revealed that about 1 in 4 men wouldn’t want to know that they had cancer. In this video, Daniel E. Spratt, MD, discusses the urologist’s role in helping to manage their patients’ fears, specifically as it relates to a diagnosis of prostate cancer. Spratt is the chair of radiation oncology at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Video Transcript:

I think whenever meeting a new patient or family, it's important to understand their values and their fears. I think that rather than just reciting guidelines or the textbook as "you're a man of this age, we need to do a PSA test", I think it's important to have that conversation with them of the implications, as well as what a result would ultimately mean for this patient. Really to make sure they understand, number 1, that there's a lot of effective treatment options. Number 2, many men don't need treatment. Number 3, there's a lot of personalized precision tests that have been developed. We've talked about the ArteraAI test, and I think over time, they'll be even more personalized tests to help men get the right treatment for them. I think that pretty much across the spectrum there are ways to reduce the morbidity or to improve the quality of life through better biopsy techniques, better treatment techniques, and better ways to manage symptoms. It's very important to build trust early on for a urologist and with a patient so that they're more likely to stay with a screening program.

This transcription has been edited for clarity.