An advocate for men’s health, Dr Tom Shannon likes to set a good example for his patients and encourage self-care for the prevention of illness.
By Ara Jansen
Urologist and prostate cancer surgeon Dr Tom Shannon aims to be in his patient’s lives for the shortest time possible.
“I love the fact that I can be important to a patient for a very short period of time. The goal is not to need me and to get on with their lives, free of cancer, which is such a privilege to be part of. Our team makes a difference,” he says.
Tom has been a urologist for more than 25 years, specialising in prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment. He still loves his profession as much today, if not more than when he started.
From a young age Tom knew he wanted to be a doctor, even though it wasn’t something that was in his family. Fascinated with the human body, he was drawn to books about how the body worked.
Tom was also very clear he was going to be a physician during medical school, but exposure to some great surgical bosses in early years changed his view. As a young intern at Hollywood Hospital he had his own theatre list, developing a love for surgery.
“Hollywood was a great place to be a junior doctor. I had a great boss who gave true one-on-one mentoring. I learnt so much. When I finished my internship, I just started studying for surgery.”
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“I was really interested in cardiothoracics but after a year realised it wasn’t for me. I was sent to do urology for a rotation and remember complaining loudly. I was given great advice – the only way to know if I liked it was to approach it like I would be doing that job every day for the rest of my career.
“I discovered urology was a rare specialty where you can be both a physician and a surgeon and threw myself into it. I’m still madly in love with it. Urology has been challenging and rewarding, always changing and progressing with technology.”
A UWA graduate, Tom finished his Fellowship in Urology in 1999 and did training in the UK, with additional training in minimally invasive surgery in Edinburgh and prostate brachytherapy in Seattle.
Throughout his career Tom has sought out and trained with pioneers in the field all over the world and been part of prostate surgery’s evolution from open surgery, to laser use, and now robotic assistance in laparoscopic surgeries.
Recognising the importance of patient education and support, he championed the role of the prostate cancer specialist nurse and a multidisciplinary team.
“Our care is now holistic, routinely involving weight loss and lifestyle changes to enhance physical and mental health.”
A pioneer of minimally invasive urological surgery in WA, Tom was among the first surgeons in Australia to perform keyhole surgery for kidney cancer, reconstruction, transplantation and partial kidney excision for small tumours. During several visits, Tom was mentored by the Cleveland Clinic’s Dr Indiber Gill, one of the world leaders in keyhole surgery. In 2005 Tom brought the expert to Perth to teach other urologists.
Among other accomplishments, in 2004 Tom operated in WA with the pioneering French surgeon Professor Claude Abbou for the first demonstration of a laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. To date, the urologist has cared for more than 10,000 men and performed more than 3,000 open, laparoscopic and robotic surgeries.
A big advocate of self-care and the prevention of illness, Tom actively advocates for men’s health and prostate cancer. He has been involved with the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia since inception and holds an adjunct associate professor role with Edith Cowan University in exercise medicine.
With around 26,400 cases diagnosed in 2024, prostate cancer is estimated to account for 28% of the cancers to be diagnosed in males for the year. Because prostate cancer survival rates are high, Tom says it’s a rewarding field to be working in.
He says there’s still work to do to bring equality to early detection. There’s excellent data showing the benefits of Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) testing and new Australian guidelines advocate men start testing at 40 and at regular intervals after, depending on personal risk. Tom argues that we could achieve significant gains with simple, but uniform changes.
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“The goal is to find significant cancers early and cure them. Cures are achieved by complete surgical resection, which is a challenge, because you get one chance to do it really well. There are minimal margins for the cancer. To cure and retain continence and sexual function, you must be precise. The trifecta is the goal. Cure avoids needing testosterone suppression, which can be devastating.
“Technology has helped us be more consistent and have better outcomes. Integrated team management minimises risks and maximises health, sexual and urinary functional recovery. Outcomes today are much better as a result.
“It’s an exciting time with technology because we don’t know what’s humanly possible. AI and robotics are allowing us to cure more patients, even when cancers are found later.
“We try and empower men to get involved in their self-care. Most of my patients have not taken care of themselves to date and commonly have obesity, diabetes or cardiovascular risk factors. The cancer is a big wakeup call, but also a teachable moment.
“Men rarely stop and pay attention unless they are so sick they cannot function. By integrating self-care into the cancer pathway, men learn to retain good health as they age and simply just feel much better. If you get can 20kg off them and get them exercising every day, they are going to live longer and minimise future disease risk.”
Tom says that’s a rewarding thing to be able to do. Partners often join in the new health kick and you’ll often see a couple grow closer as they approach the challenge together. This passion for wellness has led to published research in weight loss and exercise medicine and a wellness retreat in the Maldives.
You’ll always hear music in Tom’s operating rooms. He says it puts him in the zone and allows him to be hyper-focussed on and immersed in what he’s doing. His choice of music is usually funk, soul or something flowing.
If it’s a particularly tricky surgery, something newer by Rufus might make an appearance. There’s no death metal here and he enjoys it when people recommend something he’s not heard before. Sometimes there is even singing.
These days, Tom does most of his operating with one of the $2 million Da Vinci robots at Hollywood Hospital. The technology offers better vision and dexterity that makes surgery safer, with consistent results, but it is still just a tool. Seated, Tom places his head into a small booth and uses his hands and feet to operate multiple robotic arms. There are little speakers next to his ears and a microphone to communicate with staff.
“When we first got this machine, I would go in on weekends and sit on the machine for six hours at a time using the in-built simulator. It’s a fascinating use of so many skills – co-ordination, sight, hearing, using hands and feet, the mental component. I think the best thing to learn is something you can never fully master.
“You cannot do live animal training in Australia as yet, so there have been trips to California and Korea to learn, as well as watching many others through video. We video all our surgeries and continue to refine techniques.”
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While he did plenty of training on the machine before working on his first patient, Tom also keeps his hands and brain supple with a racing SIM at home.
“There’s a natural competition in me that I have to find an outlet for. Playing computer games allows you to be competitive without any risk. I like to cycle, but I do it more socially now, rather than competitively.”
Robotics may not be the best choice for everyone but Tom is a convert. New technologies such as the NanoKnife allow treatment of just the cancer in select patients, effectively destroying the cancer using high-voltage pulse electricity, with minimal side effects. There are now 10-year data that shows the NanoKnife destroys cancer cells without affecting surrounding tissue in more than 95% of cases.
“Medicine has been a great choice for me, and I don’t ever regret it. It can be hard to find the perfect work/life balance sometimes, but doing something meaningful and rewarding is not something everyone gets in life – and I’m grateful for that. Finding the challenge in the everyday and expanding broadly have kept me excited and passionate about what we get to do.”
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