Aggressive Treatments for Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is a cancer that affects the prostate, a reproductive gland in men. It is primarily a disease that affects men over the age of 45. Early treatment options often fall under the "watchful waiting" category. However, if the prostate cancer starts to spread or cause debilitating symptoms, patients may wish to try aggressive forms of treatment.

Considerations

• Because prostate cancer typically develops in older men, prostate cancer that is managed does not often lead to death. Instead, patients with prostate cancer often die of other geriatric causes. For this reason, the determination as to whether to aggressively treat prostate cancer may rely on factors including the risk of the cancer reoccurring. Aggressive treatment is often recommended only for aggressive cases of prostate cancer.

Misconceptions

• Because of the tradition in the medical community of treatment revolving around watchful waiting, many men who are diagnosed with aggressive forms of prostate cancer are told that there is nothing they can do to cure the cancer and that the disease is untreatable, according to a study that appeared in the March 2007 Journal of Urology. However, according to the study, aggressive treatments of prostate cancer can double the life expectancy of a patient suffering from prostate cancer.

Surgery

• Removing the tumor or the entire prostate through surgery, known as a prostatectomy, is a common treatment for both early forms of prostate cancer and for cancer that has not responded well to other forms of treatment. There are several different procedures that may be performed, including use of lasers, laparoscopic surgery, open surgery through the bladder or through an incision midway between the rectum and the scrotum or lower abdomen.

Radiation Therapy

• Radiation therapy may be a solution at any stage of treating prostate cancer, but it is often the next resort when surgery fails. During the treatment, the cancerous cells are exposed to radiation to kill them. This works because while healthy cells are able to repair DNA damage due to radiation, cancerous cells are not.

High Intensity Focused Ultrasound

• Another alternative to surgery or radiation that doctors may use to destroy the cancerous cells is to use a High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU). During a HIFU procedure, ultrasonic waves are focused on the area of the prostate where the cancerous cells are located. The high intensity waves can cause the tissue at their focal point to reach temperatures over 212 degrees Fahrenheit. As a result, the waves destroy only the cancerous cells, leaving the surrounding tissue healthy.