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Prostate Cancer
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Posted 4/10/2011 2:38 AM (GMT 0)
OK... Doctors can replace a Heart.. Lungs... Liver... Kidneys.. Corneas... and lord knows what else, So why can't they replace a prostate?? I mean they don't have to hook back up all the plumbing (Lord knows I don't need more kids) but they can hook some of it back up LOL I figure it took me 44 years to get PC, so give me a new one from a 20 something yr old and I should be good for at least another 20 or 30 yrs and by then I will be too old to care LOL JUST SAYING IS ALL....
Posted 4/10/2011 3:03 AM (GMT 0)
Hope,
When people sign the donor cards they pretty much can take what they want from the donor. I think it comes down to an insurance thing myself.
Posted 4/10/2011 3:19 AM (GMT 0)
I think the hardest part would be the nerves. But with new nerve grafting techniques and a good surgeon you wouldn't think it would be that hard. At least easier than some of the other transplants.
Posted 4/10/2011 3:24 AM (GMT 0)
LOL,
I donated mine but you didn't want that one. That would have been a downgrade...

Tony
Posted 4/10/2011 3:25 AM (GMT 0)
Who needs a prostate -- nothing but trouble. :-)

I'd settle for just the nerves being joined back together.
Posted 4/10/2011 3:55 AM (GMT 0)
Yeah....... but if you receive a prostate gland from a donor, you'd have to take anti-rejection drugs the rest of your life which would negatively impact your immune system and predispose you to some other type of cancer anyway..........
Posted 4/10/2011 3:06 PM (GMT 0)
I am with Piano. Just hook up the nerves. Gotta be a way to do it.
Posted 4/10/2011 3:26 PM (GMT 0)
A simple answer could be that the Prostrate is not needed to sustain life. Yes, there are other organs that can be grouped in the same category, eyes for example.
Guess with enough money you could get it done, but then all risks return...
Posted 4/10/2011 6:58 PM (GMT 0)
admittedly, this is a call-in radio doc's take on it, and it's from 2000 (but I like Dr. Dean):


"Two major factors for successful transplants are the body's acceptance of the new organ and the mechanics of removing and replacing the organ.
At this point, I don't think we would have trouble with acceptance, but the anatomy of the prostate makes for a daunting mechanical challenge. The prostate is wrapped around the outlet of the bladder and has hundreds of nerves and connections.

Because the prostate is not a necessary organ -- we can live without it -- overcoming the complexities of the surgery is not as pressing as is the search for other medical solutions."

http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/408/43377.html

My take:
It's not the only organ where we don't have successful transplants. Pancreases, gall bladders and thyroids come to mind. (Apparently there have been tries at human-to-human thyroid transplants, but they have failed due to high rejection rates, but there have been some more recent experiments transplanting across species).

It would probably be more difficult than transplanting a hand, and we have seen how challenging that is for surgeons and how hard it is to keep the recipient from rejecting it.

And like buying a used car, you could be just buying someone else's problems! I think I'm fine without a prostate--for the most part, my feeling is that of good riddance to the rotten thing that was trying to kill me..
Posted 4/10/2011 11:07 PM (GMT 0)
I figure they could make a silicone replacement for prostate. No plumbing necessary. It would only give mechanical support to the plumbing that is left.
You wouldn't lose that precious 3/4 inch that nobody talks about and you might not require a sling to regain continence. Who knows, it might even take pressure off a nerve or two and help some poor guy with ED.
Jeff
Posted 4/10/2011 11:10 PM (GMT 0)
I read a lot about that. Not everyone loses length and when they do, the length varies greatly. There are techniques now being used to avoid shrinkage.
Posted 4/11/2011 1:26 PM (GMT 0)
In a few years, 20 to 30 maybe, rejection of transplanted organs will be a thing of the past.  Growing brand new organs from your own stem cells will be common place, and transplants will be all the rage just like robotic surgery is all the rage today..

In our children's lifetimes, or maybe I should say grandchildren for some guys here, cloning of your own organs for future replacement will be the norm for those who can afford it.  For example when a person is in thier 30s or 40s, your own stem cells can be harvested, and through genetic manipulation, they can be used to clone all the various organs that go bad over time.  You will be able to grow in a lab, organs  like the heart, kidney, prostate, intestine, pancreas, etc. These will then be frozen until one is needed for replacement.  Since it is your own cells, there will be no rejection.  Then again, if we are this advanced with genetics to grow organs, we will probably already have a method to destroy cancer cells without harming regular cells, thus eliminating cancer as a killer all together, and not requiring transplants. 

 

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