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The West German Prostate Center (WPZ) opened 20 years ago at the KLINIK am RING in Cologne. The interdisciplinary facility specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of men with prostate cancer and benign prostate enlargement. Many years of expertise, state-of-the-art procedures and a proven team of specialists are the hallmarks of the center. Today, the WPZ is one of the highest-case prostate centers in Europe and enjoys an excellent reputation.
"We look back with pride on the last 20 years, during which we have been able to help numerous men with prostate diseases by means of diagnosis and therapy," say the founders of the West German Prostate Center Dr. Stephan Neubauer and Dr. Pedram Derakhshani. The urology specialists have been clinically and scientifically involved in the treatment of prostate diseases for 25 years and have established state-of-the-art and evidence-based treatment techniques during this time.
The WPZ relies on minimally invasive and gentle treatment techniques such as brachytherapy, a modern form of radiation therapy for the treatment of localized prostate cancer. Instead of removing the entire prostate in an operation that is often stressful for the patient, brachytherapy specifically irradiates the tumor from the inside without damaging surrounding structures such as the urinary bladder, bowel or sphincter. "With the use of brachytherapy, we can achieve not only excellent and sometimes even superior cure rates in our patients compared to surgical removal of the prostate, but at the same time also maintain a high quality of life, emphasizes Dr. Neubauer.
In addition, the physicians of the Prostate Center have extensive clinical experience with surgical techniques for the treatment of benign prostate enlargement. Since 2004, the WPZ has been among the pioneers in the use of modern laser techniques, such as holmium laser enucleation (HoLEP) and diode laser therapy. Compared to conventional enucleation of the prostate, modern laser procedures are more effective, cause less bleeding and blood transfusions, and prevent electrolyte shifts in the blood (TUR syndrome), which can become life-threatening. The HoLEP procedure can also be used to gently operate on men with a very large prostate volume without the need for open surgery.
"Our specialization gives us the opportunity to offer state-of-the-art therapies with a great routine," says Dr. Neubauer. Since the founding of the WPZ, in addition to numerous other interventions, 9,000 brachytherapy treatments for localized prostate cancer and over 3,000 laser treatments for benign prostate enlargement have thus already been performed. The center has one of the largest databases on treatment outcomes and quality of life, with follow-up up to 20 years. "Our aim is to put new medical findings into practice in a timely manner and to continuously optimize the quality of prostate cancer treatment," says the Cologne-based prostate specialist.
For the medical team, individual care and comprehensive information of the patient from preventive care, diagnosis and therapy to aftercare are an absolute prerequisite. "We take a lot of time for each patient in order to select the optimal therapy for them together," explains Dr. Neubauer. By avoiding changes of doctors, short waiting times and comprehensive information, the patient above all is the focus of therapy at the WPZ.
