The prostate is a small gland in men that produces the fluid that helps to transport and nourish male sperm cells. Prostate cancer is frequently seen in men, with 16 percent of men in the United States affected by it. The treatments of prostate cancer vary. Radiation is the most common kind of therapy used for this disease. Hormone therapy, surgery and chemotherapy are also used to treat prostate cancer, each with their own side effects. What type of prostate cancer treatment is used on a person depends on his age, how fast the cancer is spreading and his overall health.
External beam radiation treatment
One kind of prostate cancer treatment is called external beam radiation treatment, also known as EBRT. This treatment utilizes radiation from high-powered X-rays to kill cancer cells, but it also can affect nearby healthy tissue as well. Computers are used to focus the radiation beams to where they will cause the least damage to surrounding cells but still be able to destroy the cancer. This treatment for prostate cancer is given five days a week for a span of up to eight weeks in most cases, with the time involved for each treatment rarely exceeding 10 minutes. EBRT causes no pain but a full bladder is necessary during this treatment so that the bladder itself is not in the way of the radiation beam. Some of EBRT's side effects include problems urinating and the urge to urinate all the time. Loose stools and some bleeding from the rectum are not uncommon, but these side effects usually subside soon after treatment is finished.
Radioactive seed implants
Another prostate cancer treatment that employs radiation is radioactive seed implanting. Guided needles actually put up to 100 tiny radioactive "seeds" into the prostate gland in a one to two hour procedure done with the use of anesthesia. These seeds can deliver more radiation than in an EBRT and the radiation in the seeds is all gone after about a year. Radioactive seed implants are done over a time frame of a few months. They can cause urinary troubles such as slow and painful urination that are long lasting and sometimes require that men use drugs to combat the symptoms and even catheters to allow them to urinate pain-free. Erectile dysfunction can also occur with this treatment.
Hormone therapy
Cancer cells can be stimulated to grow by a hormone called testosterone. Hormone therapy for prostate cancer focuses on stopping the body from manufacturing this hormone. This is used in advanced cases to slow down tumor growth and to reduce the size of the cancer. Drugs are used in certain combinations to decrease testosterone production while others are used to keep the cells from using testosterone. Cancer cells eventually can learn to live without the testosterone, so hormone therapy is usually done intermittently. The side effects of this treatment include a reduction in sex drive, erectile dysfunction, hot flashes, possible weight gain, nausea and decreased muscle and bone mass.
Surgical options
The operation to remove the prostate is called a radical prostatectomy. The gland and close-by lymph nodes are taken out. Retropubic surgery involves the gland being taken out through the lower abdomen while perineal surgery removes the prostate through an incision that is made between the anus and the scrotum. These surgeries are options when the cancer has not advanced out of the prostate. Side effects of these procedures are bladder control troubles that can clear up after a few months in most cases and erectile dysfunction that reverses in most healthy males.
Other treatments
There are other ways to treat prostate cancer. Chemotherapy is used when the cancer has spread to other parts of the patient's body. Chemicals that kill cancer cells are injected or ingested, with strong side effects such as vomiting and nausea possible. Cryotherapy is used to freeze tissue in an attempt to kill cancer cells. A treatment called "watchful waiting" is an option when the patient is very elderly and/or in failing health. The cancer is closely monitored and if it is slow to progress, causing no symptoms, and small then no treatment will be considered.
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