Urological cancer continues to be a problem with a major impact on our society. Diseases such as prostate, bladder or kidney cancer affect thousands of people every year and pose not only medical, but also human, family and social challenges. Given this scenario, one of the main priorities is clear: diagnose better, treat more effectively and preserve, whenever possible, quality of life.
In recent years, technology has assumed a decisive role in uro-oncology. Far from being a fad, the integration of new imaging systems, minimally invasive surgery and artificial intelligence responds to very concrete needs: greater precision, faster decisions and treatments more adapted to each person.
One of the most relevant advances is in the diagnosis and characterization of prostate cancer, the most common malignant tumor in men in Portugal, with around 7500 new cases per year.
Today, the combination of advanced imaging tests with fusion biopsies allows not only to detect the tumor with greater accuracy, but also to identify its exact location within the prostate.
This step is essential to correctly select patients and pave the way for approaches such as focal therapy, which only treats the area affected by the tumor, preserving the remaining organ. This strategy makes it possible to reduce side effects and adapt treatment to the real profile of the disease.
In the surgical field, robotic surgery represents another important milestone. By offering greater precision and control to the surgeon, it contributes to safer interventions and faster recoveries. In areas such as kidney surgery, innovative techniques such as the RSD (Renal Sutureless Device) show how technology can help preserve kidney function and simplify complex procedures, always focusing on the benefit of the patient.
Also in radiotherapy, advances are evident. Systems based on artificial intelligence, such as AutoContour, allow you to automatically delimit the volumes to be treated with great precision. This reduces the risk of reaching healthy tissue and makes treatments more efficient and safe.
It is important to emphasize that these tools do not replace the doctor. On the contrary, they function as clinical decision support, allowing the specialist to focus on what remains essential: evaluating each case, clarifying doubts and choosing, together with the patient, the best therapeutic option.
In this rapidly evolving context, continuous updating, sharing of experience and debate between professionals becomes increasingly necessary. It is in this spirit that initiatives such as the UroNext meeting that we organized in partnership with the Clínica Universitária de Navarra emerge, with the aim of promoting open discussion about the role of technology in current uro-oncology.
More than talking about the future, the challenge is to apply, responsibly and judiciously, the solutions that already exist. Because true innovation in healthcare is not just in the technology itself, but in the way it is used to offer medicine that is more precise, more personalized and closer to people.
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