Recommended Prostate Cancer Treatment

Of the prostate cancer treatments available, your doctor will recommend the treatment option that is best for you. The decision will depend upon your overall health and also how far modern your cancer is. Whenever the treatment recommended for you is not something you are comfortable with, as an example you may not be comfortable with external beam radiation therapy; you can provide your doctor your opinion. It is very important that you are at ease with the decision. Discuss it with your family as well, particularly the possible side effects and also cure rate.

Oncologists specialize in specific fields. The one you're referred to will be a specialist in the treatment prescribed for you.

Watching and also Waiting

The first strategy in most treatment plans is watching and also waiting. The signs and also symptoms which can indicate prostate cancer are also indications of other problems just like an infection in or close to your prostate. Watching and also waiting is to find out which condition your symptoms are from.

During this period, blood samples will be tested for PSA levels and also tissue samples can be delivered for a biopsy.Elevated levels of the prostate specific antigen may point with a less serious medical problem. This is why a tissue sample can be taken; to verify or to rule out the presence of cancer. Remember that early treatment usually has a more effective possibility of cure.

Surgery

Men who would be the best candidates for prostate cancer surgery would be the ones almost certainly to achieve a successful recovery from the procedure. These are men with fine overall health and also who do not have secondary conditions which can interfere with recovery like heart problems. Surgery can lead to some serious side effects including incontinence and also impotence.

Radiation

There are 3 different types of radiation therapies. External beam therapy is typically a stream of X-rays created for your pelvis from a device outside the body. The X-rays burn away cancer cells through repeated treatments over several weeks.

An alternative external beam therapy is Proton Beam Therapy. Instead of applying X-rays, protons, which are charged particles or ions, are streamed at your pelvis, again from a device outside your body.

Brachytherapy is the introduction of several radioactive seeds directly into your prostate. They're implanted with a series of injections while you're under a general anesthetic.

All of the radiation treatments above work on the principle of burning cancer cells away with high energy particles. Radiation treatment can take place over time, and also is subject to exactly the same side effects as surgery.

Hormone Therapies

Hormone therapy is a method of chemical treatment that seeks to alter your hormone levels to halt or slow the growth of cancer cells. This procedure is temporary due to the fact most patients develop a resistance to the effectiveness of the injections after about 2 years.

Hormone therapy is not a cure and also is frequently recommended when the patient has a higher stage (T-3 or T-4) of prostate cancer. The thought is to prolong the patient's life and also slow the cancer's growth.

Cryotherapy

Cryotherapy is a procedure where, during surgery, your prostate is frozen and also then thawed to destroy cancer cells.

HIFU

High Intensity Focused Ultrasound uses focused ultrasound to heat and also evaporate diseased tissue out of your prostate. The device is aimed applying an MRI scan and also targeted tissue is heated to 80??C. The result is tissue that can no longer reproduce and also so can't grow any further. Healthy tissue is spared because the effective area of the ultrasound pulse is extremely small and also only a couple of cubic mm at the moment can be targeted. It is done on an out-patient basis and also does not affect the quality of life that some of the other treatments do. HIFU also leads to fewer significant side effects than surgery or radiation. HIFU for prostate cancer is especially effective and also can frequent be used for recurrent cancer. This is not an option, nonetheless , once the cancer has spread beyond the prostate.

You might find out more info about prostate cancer at Female Prostate Cancer and prostate cancer treatment options.