“As a nurse practitioner in the urology department, I primarily guide patients diagnosed with localized prostate cancer. They have various treatment options available to them, and it can be tricky for them to find the most suitable one. I always had lots of questions. At some point the head of our department, who is also my supervisor, said: go ahead and find out. So I did. One thing led to another, and now I even completed a thesis! One of the things I investigated is what these men actually prefer. One patient may value a cure more than anything—just get rid of the cancer. Another would not want to live with incontinence or erectile dysfunction after prostate removal. You want to provide the most accurate information to your patients at all times. Not just some general information, but actual details about the specific side effects they may be at risk of. I also investigated whether the length of the urethra impacts incontinence, as described in the literature. It turns out that it does: a shorter urethra increases the risk of incontinence. We can now predict the risk of incontinence after prostatectomy for each individual patient. It's amazing that we are able to do this.”
Corinne Tillier will defend her thesis on September 5.
prof. dr. H.G. van der Poel & prof. dr. L.V. van de Poll-Franse
A.H. Boekhout