Urology

We diagnose cancers of the kidney, ureters, bladder, testes, penis and prostate. We treat cancers at this hospital, although some treatments take place at other hospitals.

Making an appointment
Most patients will come into contact with our urology team after being referred by their GP. Appointments and referrals can be made by you or your GP via The Electronic Referral Service (e-RS). If necessary the GP will make a hospital appointment within two weeks.

An appointment letter will be sent explaining what will happen at the outpatients clinic appointment. Sometimes patients may be referred via our A&E department or other hospital consultants.

Routine investigations

  • ultrasound scan, uses sound waves to build up a picture of inside the body
  • CT scan, uses x-rays to take pictures of the body from different angles, they are more detailed than normal x-rays
  • cystoscopy
  • prostate biopsy, tissue is surgically removed from the suspected lump using a needle
  • blood tests, to measure PSA (prostate specific antigen) levels in the blood, high PSA can indicate problems with the prostate gland
  • urine tests, to see if there are any traces of blood in the urine
  • MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan, uses magnetic field and radio waves to build up a picture of soft tissues inside the body, instead of x-rays.

What to expect
Active monitoring takes place at Homerton, this is where the situation is monitored on a regular basis by our clinical teams, unless a patient presents any changes.
Surgery will be carried out at Homerton, St Bartholomew’s Hospital or Whipps Cross Hospital, depending on the cancer diagnosis.
Intravesical (given directly into the bladder) chemotherapy for bladder cancer is provided at Homerton, all other chemotherapy is provided at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.
Hormonethearpy, a tablet therapy for prostate cancer, is carried out at Homerton; whilst radiotherapy is undertaken at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.

Ongoing support
After surgery, follow up appointments are held in the outpatients department with a surgeon or oncologist, depending on the treatment plan.
Urology, stoma and palliative care clinical nurse specialists provide ongoing practical and emotional support and referral to other health care professionals where appropriate.
We have a Macmillan cancer information manager, based in our Health Shop, who provides support and advice for all patients who are diagnosed with urological cancer.

Madhu Agarwal
Macmillan cancer information and support manager
tel: 020 8510 5191