Prostate Cancer Treatment Options
Treatment options for prostate cancer have expanded in recent years. While surgery and radiation therapy are still widely used and effective, developments from research have given physicians new tools to work with in battling this disease.
Surgery
Surgical options include a complete prostatectomy where the entire prostate gland is removed, a pelvic lymph node dissection to remove the lymph nodes and a transurethral resection to remove urethral blockages directly through the urethra.
All of these procedures require an overnight hospital stay and a general anesthetic to put you under. Surgery is typically suggested for patients who are in generally good health and can recuperate easily from the operation.
Radiation
Radiation therapy has evolved in recent years. The traditional treatment called external beam radiation therapy is to focus a radioactive source at the prostate gland from outside the body.
Another treatment using the same principle is proton beam radiation therapy where a proton source is focused on the prostate from outside the body.
A different method of using radioactivity to treat prostate cancer is brachytherapy. This technique utilizes small radioactive seeds implanted directly into the prostate gland with a series of up to 40 separate injections to deposit approximately 150 seeds. Because the seeds are small, their range of effect is as well. The radiation emitted affects only those cells in close proximity to the area they are implanted. For this reason the seeds must be deposited directly into areas where cancer has taken root.
All of these methods rely on the concept that cancerous cells are burned away with radioactivity.
Chemical Methods
There are two branches of chemical treatments. Both of them rely on the concept of strengthening the body's own immune system to battle against the disease.
Chemotherapy uses drugs that are toxic to the cancerous cells. The drugs slow or arrest the growth and development of diseased cells. It also is used to relieve pain or as a "mopping up" operation after surgery to destroy any remaining cancer cells missed by the surgery.
Hormone therapy is typically prescribed for patients with cancer extending beyond the prostate gland. The aim of this treatment is to reduce or block the production of hormones responsible for encouraging cancer growth. Reduction of testosterone slows cancer growth and can improve the patient's quality of life.
Cryotherapy
Cryotherapy is the process of freezing and then thawing the prostate gland. The cancer cells cannot survive the freezing and thawing process.
This treatment is surgical in nature and therefore requires a hospital stay and a general anesthetic.
High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU)
HIFU prostate cancer treatment is a treatment that uses focused sound waves to heat and destroys diseased cells in the prostate gland. Guided by anMRI scan, cancerous cells are isolated and targeted. The area targeted is then heated and the cells in that area are eradicated. The affected area of the sound pulse is small so healthy tissue adjacent to the cancerous cells are left untouched. This treatment is very popular in Europe where research dating back over a decade shows it is as effective as surgery or radiation. The treatment is currently unavailable in the USA, but was approved by Health Canada in 2003.
Research
Prostate cancer treatments have benefited in recent years from research. Studies continue to help in this battle.
Treatment options for prostate cancer have expanded in recent years. While surgery and radiation therapy are still widely used and effective, developments from research have given physicians new tools to work with in battling this disease.
Surgery
Surgical options include a complete prostatectomy where the entire prostate gland is removed, a pelvic lymph node dissection to remove the lymph nodes and a transurethral resection to remove urethral blockages directly through the urethra.
All of these procedures require an overnight hospital stay and a general anesthetic to put you under. Surgery is typically suggested for patients who are in generally good health and can recuperate easily from the operation.
Radiation
Radiation therapy has evolved in recent years. The traditional treatment called external beam radiation therapy is to focus a radioactive source at the prostate gland from outside the body.
Another treatment using the same principle is proton beam radiation therapy where a proton source is focused on the prostate from outside the body.
A different method of using radioactivity to treat prostate cancer is brachytherapy. This technique utilizes small radioactive seeds implanted directly into the prostate gland with a series of up to 40 separate injections to deposit approximately 150 seeds. Because the seeds are small, their range of effect is as well. The radiation emitted affects only those cells in close proximity to the area they are implanted. For this reason the seeds must be deposited directly into areas where cancer has taken root.
All of these methods rely on the concept that cancerous cells are burned away with radioactivity.
Chemical Methods
There are two branches of chemical treatments. Both of them rely on the concept of strengthening the body's own immune system to battle against the disease.
Chemotherapy uses drugs that are toxic to the cancerous cells. The drugs slow or arrest the growth and development of diseased cells. It also is used to relieve pain or as a "mopping up" operation after surgery to destroy any remaining cancer cells missed by the surgery.
Hormone therapy is typically prescribed for patients with cancer extending beyond the prostate gland. The aim of this treatment is to reduce or block the production of hormones responsible for encouraging cancer growth. Reduction of testosterone slows cancer growth and can improve the patient's quality of life.
Cryotherapy
Cryotherapy is the process of freezing and then thawing the prostate gland. The cancer cells cannot survive the freezing and thawing process.
This treatment is surgical in nature and therefore requires a hospital stay and a general anesthetic.
High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU)
HIFU prostate cancer treatment is a treatment that uses focused sound waves to heat and destroys diseased cells in the prostate gland. Guided by anMRI scan, cancerous cells are isolated and targeted. The area targeted is then heated and the cells in that area are eradicated. The affected area of the sound pulse is small so healthy tissue adjacent to the cancerous cells are left untouched. This treatment is very popular in Europe where research dating back over a decade shows it is as effective as surgery or radiation. The treatment is currently unavailable in the USA, but was approved by Health Canada in 2003.
Research
Prostate cancer treatments have benefited in recent years from research. Studies continue to help in this battle.
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