Published January 07, 2025
It was an average spring day in April 2024 when Stefan Rentsch noticed severe pain when urinating. Stefan, a 69-year-old retired engineer from Traverse City, Michigan, rushed to his local hospital emergency room. Soon after, Stefan was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer and became catheter dependent. He sought several local opinions from nearby hospitals; however, all local doctors wanted to do radiation, whereas he preferred surgery.
“This treatment was outside the 'standard of care’ for patients with my condition,” said Stefan. “Therefore, my surgeon in Michigan and most others would not do such a procedure.”
Determined to get a better answer, Stefan began researching alternate options online in June 2024 and found a clinical trial the Yale School of Medicine was conducting on the benefits of prostate removal, lymph nodes and tissues. Within 30 minutes of him emailing to be considered, Isaac Yi Kim, MD, PhD, MBA, chief of Urology, Yale New Haven Hospital, and chair of Urology, Yale School of Medicine, called Stefan to discuss his situation.
“Dr. Kim was the only surgeon I could identify in the United States offering prostatectomy to me within a clinical trial setting,” added Stefan.
The clinical trial run by Dr. Kim assessed the role of surgery with metastatic prostate cancer.
“When patients have prostate cancer that has spread to their bones, lymph nodes and other organs, the current standard of care is systemic therapy, like chemotherapy and hormonal therapy,” said Dr. Kim. “The trial focuses on if patients will live longer if we remove the prostate. Some feasible data says that is the case, but it has never been tested in a prospective manner. This multi-institution, international trial will help answer that.”
When patients are diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer, their five-year probability of survival is about 30 percent, according to Dr. Kim.
Stefan made the 900+ mile trip from Michigan to Yale New Haven Hospital twice, once for a physical examination and then for surgery. Dr. Kim performed the surgery at Smilow Cancer Hospital on August 26, 2024.
“Before the surgery, Dr. Kim took a moment to pray with my wife and me,” Stefan recalls. “As a devout Catholic, that stood out to me.”
Stefan really admired Dr. Kim’s willingness to do the surgery quickly. “Dr. Kim flexed his schedule to do the surgery to reduce my time depending on a catheter, a major quality of life issue for me.”
Stefan is now tube-free and is not reliant on a catheter to urinate. Being catheterized, Stefan said, is “somewhere between terrible and horrible.” He is back to his normal exercise levels, lifting weights and walking. Most importantly, he no longer worries about how long he will be out for when he is doing his favorite hobby, boating.
For Dr. Kim, he stresses men start getting checked out at age 40. “Prostate cancer is very curable if caught early. Many patients feel it can be ignored, but screenings are crucial.”
Learn more about research and clinical trials at Smilow Cancer Hospital.
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