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What Are Some of the Treatment Options for Prostate Cancer?
Treatment for prostate cancer typically includes:
Watchful Waiting
Because prostate cancer is frequently a slow-progressing disease, some patients may choose to closely monitor their cancer without additional intervention. This is known as "watchful waiting," and is generally followed by older men with a limited life expectancy and those whose cancer appears to be small and very contained.
Surgery
For younger patients or those whose prostate cancer appears to be progressing more rapidly or aggressively, surgery remains the primary treatment option. The chance of cure (undetectable PSA) with surgery alone 10 years after treatment is more than 90 percent for men with localized prostate cancer.
Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy can be used either alone or with surgery to treat prostate cancer. Urologic radiotherapy generally takes two forms: external beam radiation (EBRT) and brachytherapy.
EBRT delivers small doses of radiation to the prostate over a course of 6 to 7 weeks. Another option is intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), which can deliver high-dose radiation to the prostate while minimizing toxicity to the surrounding normal tissue.
Prostate brachytherapy treatment involves radioactive seeds implanted directly into the prostate. The procedure is performed on an outpatient basis under either general or regional anesthesia.
Cryotherapy
Cryotherapy involves freezing the prostate gland. This destroys cancerous cells as well as the gland itself, some surrounding connective tissue and the smallest blood vessels in the area. This treatment is thought to slow cancer growth due to inadequate blood supply for any surviving cancer cells in the prostate area.
Prostate cancer patients can receive more than one cryotherapy treatment if the first one does not work well. Cryotherapy can also be undertaken either before or after radiotherapy treatments for prostate cancer.
Hormone Therapy/Androgen Deprivation
Hormone therapy is also known as androgen deprivation, and is reserved for cases in which prostate cancer is advanced and spreading to other parts of the body. Hormone treatments either surgically or chemically (using medication) reduce the male hormone testosterone that feeds the prostate and its cancerous cells. Although hormone therapy shrinks prostate cancer in vast majority of advanced prostate cancer patients, it does not cure the disease, and is not effective long-term.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the use of strong drugs to try to destroy cancer cells. These drugs are circulated throughout the body and target any rapidly growing cells, including potentially non-cancerous ones. Chemotherapy is generally not a first-line treatment for prostate cancer, but may be recommended if the cancer cells have spread outside of the prostate. Chemotherapy may also be used in combination with other treatments for prostate cancer.
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