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The Best Treatment for Advanced Prostate Cancer

The prostate is a male gland located below the bladder and in front of the rectum. Approximately the size of a walnut, the prostate houses the cells that create the sperm's protective fluids as well as the tube that carries urine. The American Cancer Society (ACS) reports that one of the most common forms of prostate cancer, adenocarcinoma, starts in prostate cells. The ACS goes on to say that between 7 and 9 out of 10 men already have prostate cancer by the age of 80, but neither they nor their doctors are aware of the condition.

  1. Which Treatment Is Best For You

    • The Mayo Clinic and American Cancer Society indicate that no one treatment fits all prostate-cancer patients. Your treatment plan will depend on the size of your tumors, whether it has spread and your age. Depending on the age at which you are diagnosed, your doctor may determine that prostate cancer, regardless of its stage, will not be fatal. In that case, your treatment team may decide to manage your cancer and symptoms rather than attempt to cure it and risk the pain and discomfort of treatment side effects.

    Surgery

    • One of the more common surgeries performed on advanced prostate cancer is transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). The purpose of TURP is to relieve symptoms and improve the patient's ability to pass urine---it is not done to cure or remove all of the cancerous cells. Following surgery, you will need a catheter for several days, which is a tube inserted into the penis, to help you drain urine. It is normal for blood to appear in your urine after this procedure.

    Radiation therapy

    • High-energy rays are used to kill cancer cells and reduce the size of tumors. Your doctor will place radioactive materials directly into your tumor from outside of your body. The radiation is applied much the same way an X-ray is done, but for several minutes longer. This is an outpatient procedure that requires about seven to nine weekly treatments. Radiation therapy is used in advanced prostate-cancer treatment specifically to shrink tumors and to provide pain relief. Unlike older radiation-therapy techniques, today's procedure is much more targeted and accurate.

    Hormone therapy

    • Hormone therapy is used for men whose chances for successful surgery or radiation are low. It is also a preferred treatment for patients whose cancers have spread to other parts of their body. The goal of hormone therapy is to reduce the levels of androgens hormone (testosterone is an example) produced mostly in the testicles. These hormones are responsible for cancer growth. Lowering their production levels reduces cancer-cell growth and can even shrink tumors. But this therapy is used to control the growth and spread of cancer but is not a cure.

    Chemotherapy

    • Like hormone therapy, the purpose of chemotherapy is to reduce the growth of cancer cells and prevent it from spreading. Chemotherapy is not used to cure cancer. Your treatment team will inject chemotherapy drugs into a vein. The drugs will spread throughout the body via your bloodstream and destroy as many cancer cells as possible. Chemotherapy is also used to target cancer cells that have spread outside of the prostate glad.

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