An Overview Of Prostate Cancer Treatments

Prostate cancer is the second biggest cancer related killer in males over sixty, yet many men don't look after themselves well enough and seek help when it is needed. Luckily there are many treatments available for those suffering with prostate cancer, a lot of which can totally eradicate the condition.

To show how invasive each treatment is we will go through each treatment from least invasive to most invasive.

Watchful Waiting

Watchful waiting, also known as active surveillance, is a treatment where the doctors just keep and active eye on the illness to see how it is progressing and is normally chosen for only one of two reasons.

Reason one - The cancer is in its infancy and the tumor is small, confined and expected to grow very slowly

Reason two - The patient has a separate medical condition that means surgery would be worse for the patient than the current suffering.

Hormonal Therapy

Testosterone drives the male sex drive and it also stimulates prostate cancer cells, as they are hormone dependant. If the testosterone hormone can be blocked it will reduce the speed the cancerous cells can grow.

These therapies can work in three ways, one is through an oral tablet, which reduces the testosterone production in the testes, two is antiandrogen therapy to block the effects of testosterone and number three is to totally remove the testes completely.

Radiation

Using Gamma rays, the medical professionals try to kill every possible cancerous cell; this is completed in one of two ways.

One-way is to have small-radiated rod inserted into the prostate and left for a period of time to kill the cancerous cells.

The second way is to use an external radiation beam to concentrate on the area from outside the body.

Prostectomy

The procedure for prostectomy is a surgical one and involves totally removing the prostate gland; this is normally carried out early on in the cancer lifecycle, as the surgery cannot be completed if the cancer has moved to other areas of the body.

Chemotherapy

The most dangerous of all the therapies, chemotherapy, needs to be administered carefully as the drugs damage and destroy the cancerous cells, and if given in the wrong doses can kill healthy cells too.

The End Product

A lot of these treatments are quite invasive and dangerous in their own way, in some cases the side affects to having these treatments can be quite drastic. It has been known for people to suffer with impotence, erectile dysfunction and loss of sexual appetite from having these different treatments.

The after effects of this can be quite devastating on an emotional level as the male takes time to get used to the after affects the treatment caused, in some cases this requires counseling to alleviate any stress, depression or anger.

What is important though is that the cancer is eradicated, once it has gone the person suffering can sleep easily knowing they have managed to escape one of the biggest killers that men have to face alone.

Next article: Breast Surgery - Possible Side Effects

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