Treatments for Prostate Cancer

A cancer diagnosis is never good news. However, a diagnosis of prostate cancer is not a death sentence – in many cases, successful treatment can totally eradicate the cancer.

Treatment will depend on how large the tumor is, and what stage the cancer has reached. If the cancer has not spread beyond the prostate, it is much easier to treat.

Early stage cancers which are limited to the prostate gland can be treated by radiation therapy without any surgery being required, or in addition to surgical removal of the tumor Radiation is used to destroy the cancerous cells – effectively it is the same process as an X-ray but with higher doses of radiation. The process usually takes two months of treatment as an out-patient. There may be mild side effects, including diarrhea or rectal bleeding as well as a feeling of discomfort.

For cancer which has spread beyond the prostate, or which has returned after remission, hormone therapy is often used. Monthly or quarterly injections of LHRH are given in order to reduce the amount of testosterone in the body. Lower testosterone levels tend to make prostate cancerous tumors shrink, and can reduce the rate at which the cancer grows.

Historically, complete removal of the testicles used to be considered the best way to achieve the same effect. Most men will be glad to know LHRH is just as efficient, and is much more commonly used nowadays.

Surgery is also a common treatment, often combined with radiation therapy in early stage prostate cancers. Radical prostatectomy is the medical name for the entire removal of the prostate gland. This is a relatively uncomplicated surgical procedure carried out under anesthesia, and it usually requires two or three days of hospitalization. Possible side effects include incontinence and sexual dysfunction. It is generally advised for men under 70 and in good health. For those who are too old or too ill to undergo the full surgery, a transurethral resection may be used. This simply removes the blockage caused by the tumor

Chemotherapy is generally used where the cancer has spread throughout the body. It can slow the pace of the growth of cancer cell,s though it will not destroy them completely. Side effects can include hair loss, nausea, and heart problems. The difficulty with chemotherapy is that the treatment may kill healthy cells as well as infected ones; doses must be very carefully balanced in order to kill as many cancerous cells as possible, but relatively few healthy ones. That is not an easy job, and has to be evaluated separately for each individual case.

HIFU, which stands for high intensity focused ultrasound, is a relatively new treatment. Ultrasound bombardment is used to destroy the infected cells.

Combined use of more than one of these types of treatment can prove effective and is known as combined modality therapy. This is particularly the case when the cancer is more advanced.

Prostate cancer survival rates have increased over recent years. If prostate cancer is diagnosed early, and the disease has not spread beyond the prostate, there is now a 99 percent chance of survival beyond 5 years from the date of diagnosis. Even if the disease has progressed, there is a 75% chance of successful treatment.

Medical science is still advancing, with new treatments, and new refinements of the existing treatments. It’s likely that survival rates can be increased still further. In the meantime, the most important effect on survival rates is early detection – a good reason why older men should insist on annual check-ups to catch any prostate cancer in the early stages.

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