Prostate Cancer Side Effects

Prostate cancer can grow in a man’s prostate gland (located between the rectum and the bladder) for years without posing a danger to the man’s health. Prostate cancer is generally slow growing and does not pose a significant health risk. However, for reasons that doctors do not understand, some prostate cancers can begin to grow out of control and attack neighboring tissues. They can even sometimes travel through the blood stream and attack tissues and organs far away from the prostate gland.

Prostate cancer can affect the body in many ways. Because the prostate is near the bladder and the urethra, prostate cancer can affect the urinary tract resulting in the need to urinate more frequently than usual, feeling pain during urination, or finding blood in the urine. Prostate cancer can also affect a man’s sex life through erectile dysfunction (the inability to get or maintain and erection), or painful ejaculation. If the prostate cancer has grown into the rectum there could be diarrhea or difficulty with bowel movements, and blood might be found in the stool.

At the most advanced stage of prostate cancer, the cancer can metastasize into other areas of the body. It does this by going through the lymphatic system or the circulatory system. If the cancer travels to other parts of the body, like the bones or the spine, it can cause many symptoms. These affects include: bone pain, fatigue, weakness, the inability to hold in urine or fecal matter (incontinence), and swelling due to the build up of fluids. Prostate cancer can kill because of the complications it causes. Cancer tumors can block the circulation system and cause organs to lack the oxygen they need to function properly. If an organ like the liver, pancreas or brain has tumors or cannot receive the required amount of blood flow, the patient can die. Cancer which has spread to the bones can stop the bone marrow from producing blood cells. Cancer can also produce enzymes which, if unchecked, can overwhelm and destroy the body.

There are many treatments for prostate cancer, but most of these have side effects. The treatment of prostate cancer by surgery is one of the most popular choices. The main side effect of surgery, as in all surgeries, is pain as the area of the surgery heals itself. This side effect eventually disappears, but the time of convalescence varies in each patient. There are also side effects that do not go away. Prostate surgery can cause permanent impotence or urinary incontinence due to the removal of the nerves that control erection or damage to the opening of the bladder. But there are new techniques which can spare these side effects. However, men who undergo a prostatectomy no longer produce semen and have dry orgasms.

External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is another form of treatment that is widely used. Some of the side effects are temporary, but some can be lasting. The temporary side effects are fatigue, diarrhea, and uncomfortable urination. In addition, the skin area at the treatment site can become dry, red, tender and the area can suffer hair loss. In some cases the man can experience impotence such as erectile dysfunction. Sometimes this effect is long lasting, but there are now treatment available for it.

Internal radiation treatment is called brachytherapy and it can produce the same side effects as EBRT, however, the side effects are usually much more mild.

Hormone therapy is where the patient’s male hormones (called androgens) are lowered through surgery or interfered with by medications. When a man’s testosterone levels fall, he can experience loss of interest in sex, hot flashes, and impotence. Prostate cancer patients who receive estrogen treatment may experience nausea, hot flashes, or swelling of the breast tissue.

Chemotherapy is used in the more advanced stages of prostate cancer. Side effects of chemotherapy are temporary, and include fatigue, hair loss, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

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