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Secretary Powell has Prostate Surgery
Aired December 15, 2003 - 15:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we all know that Secretary of State Colin Powell as a former military commander. Now he's waging a new battle, and that's against cancer. Secretary Powell underwent surgery today for prostate cancer and is said to be doing just fine. State Department officials say the secretary should make a full recovery, and doctors say Powell's prostate cancer was localized.
Here to explain the procedure, Dr. Fray Marshall, head of the urology department at Emory University.
Nice to have you here.
DR. FRAY MARSHALL, EMORY: Pleasure to be here.
PHILIPS: Well, let's talk about first localized prostate cancer. What exactly does that mean?
MARSHALL: It usually means a very favorable circumstance. It usually means it's been found in a situation where it's highly likely to be localized to the prostate. And usually in that setting, surgery, for example, is very likely to be curative.
There are many cancers that we all have seen that sometimes don't have a very good outlook. But I think in this particular case, with a localized prostate cancer, that usually the outlook is excellent.
PHILLIPS: Now, he was diagnosed last summer. Why have surgery now? Why wasn't it just taken care of right then?
MARSHALL: Well, sometimes there's a reason to defer. Usually there's a biopsy first. Then it's -- the slides are evaluated.
Usually we, for example, defer surgery for several months to allow the effects from the biopsy to subside. There obviously may be other factors related to Colin Powell as well. But it's not a situation where typically one rushes to surgery immediately.
PHILLIPS: Sixty-six years old. That's a pretty common age for this, isn't it?
MARSHALL: Well, I think it's a very common age. And I think one out of six to eight males in the United States gets prostate cancer. So it's an exceedingly common cancer. But I think also, as we've intimated, that the outlook is favorable, particularly when it's found in this situation.
PHILLIPS: And of course, they say it looks like it went just fine. He can recuperate for a couple of weeks, back at work. Is it that easy?
MARSHALL: Well, it may or may not be that easy. I suspect that he could probably communicate with people later today, or certainly tomorrow, or whatever. He may or may not want to. But usually the recovery is rapid. And usually the surgery is well tolerated.
Sometimes there's some variability in how people recover, so you can't always say on such and such a day he's going to be perfect. But usually they recover rapidly and well.
PHILLIPS: So localized prostate cancer, the chance of this coming back is pretty slim?
MARSHALL: I think likely to be small. So I think his short-term and long-term outlook is likely to be very favorable.
PHILLIPS: Dr. Fray Marshall, Emory University, thank you very much.
MARSHALL: Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 15, 2003 - 15:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we all know that Secretary of State Colin Powell as a former military commander. Now he's waging a new battle, and that's against cancer. Secretary Powell underwent surgery today for prostate cancer and is said to be doing just fine. State Department officials say the secretary should make a full recovery, and doctors say Powell's prostate cancer was localized.
Here to explain the procedure, Dr. Fray Marshall, head of the urology department at Emory University.
Nice to have you here.
DR. FRAY MARSHALL, EMORY: Pleasure to be here.
PHILIPS: Well, let's talk about first localized prostate cancer. What exactly does that mean?
MARSHALL: It usually means a very favorable circumstance. It usually means it's been found in a situation where it's highly likely to be localized to the prostate. And usually in that setting, surgery, for example, is very likely to be curative.
There are many cancers that we all have seen that sometimes don't have a very good outlook. But I think in this particular case, with a localized prostate cancer, that usually the outlook is excellent.
PHILLIPS: Now, he was diagnosed last summer. Why have surgery now? Why wasn't it just taken care of right then?
MARSHALL: Well, sometimes there's a reason to defer. Usually there's a biopsy first. Then it's -- the slides are evaluated.
Usually we, for example, defer surgery for several months to allow the effects from the biopsy to subside. There obviously may be other factors related to Colin Powell as well. But it's not a situation where typically one rushes to surgery immediately.
PHILLIPS: Sixty-six years old. That's a pretty common age for this, isn't it?
MARSHALL: Well, I think it's a very common age. And I think one out of six to eight males in the United States gets prostate cancer. So it's an exceedingly common cancer. But I think also, as we've intimated, that the outlook is favorable, particularly when it's found in this situation.
PHILLIPS: And of course, they say it looks like it went just fine. He can recuperate for a couple of weeks, back at work. Is it that easy?
MARSHALL: Well, it may or may not be that easy. I suspect that he could probably communicate with people later today, or certainly tomorrow, or whatever. He may or may not want to. But usually the recovery is rapid. And usually the surgery is well tolerated.
Sometimes there's some variability in how people recover, so you can't always say on such and such a day he's going to be perfect. But usually they recover rapidly and well.
PHILLIPS: So localized prostate cancer, the chance of this coming back is pretty slim?
MARSHALL: I think likely to be small. So I think his short-term and long-term outlook is likely to be very favorable.
PHILLIPS: Dr. Fray Marshall, Emory University, thank you very much.
MARSHALL: Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
