Medical Treatments for Prostate Cancer

There are many different medical treatments for prostate cancer that involve the clinical care of a healthcare professional. These treatments include expectant therapy, surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, and chemotherapy. Expectant therapy is to carefully observe and monitor the prostate cancer. Because prostate cancer cells often spread very slowly, many older men who have the disease may not need more extensive treatment. However, expectant therapy usually includes routine physician examinations, including digital rectal exams and PSA tests. The different types of surgery for prostate cancer are radical prostatectomy - an open-surgery procedure in which the entire prostate gland and surrounding tissue are removed. Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) - surgery to remove part of the prostate gland that surrounds the urethra. Cryosurgery - this procedure involves killing the cancer cells by freezing them with a small metal tool placed in the tumor. Side effects of prostate cancer surgery include incontinence and impotence. Incontinence is the inability to control urine and may result in dribbling of urine, especially immediately after surgery. Normal control usually returns within weeks or months after surgery. Impotence is the inability to achieve an erection. For a month, or so, after surgery, most men are not able to get an erection. Eventually, approximately 40 to 60 percent of men will be able to get an erection sufficient for sexual intercourse, but without ejaculation of semen, since removal of the prostate gland prevents that process.

Radiation therapy uses high energy rays to kill or shrink cancer cells, and to decrease their ability to divide. Radiation is often used to treat prostate cancer that is still confined to the prostate gland, or has spread only to nearby tissue. If the disease is advanced, radiation may be used to reduce the size of the tumor and to provide relief from symptoms. Possible side effects of radiation for prostate cancer may include diarrhea, with or without blood in the stool, and colitis, problems associated with urination, a degree of impotence (inability to get an erection), which may occur within two years of radiation therapy.

The goal of hormone therapy is to lower the level of male hormones in the body, particularly testosterone. Hormone therapy does not cure the cancer, and is often used to treat persons whose cancer has spread or recurred after treatment. Produced mainly in the testicles, testosterone causes prostate cancer cells to grow. Thus, reduced testosterone levels can make the prostate cancer shrink and become less active. Most studies show that hormone therapy works better if it is started early. Chemotherapy is the use of powerful, anti-cancer medications to kill cancer cells.. Hospitalization may be needed to monitor treatment and chemotherapy's side effects. Common side effects of chemotherapy include: nausea and vomiting, hair loss, anemia, reduced ability of blood to clot, mouth sores, increased likelihood of developing infections, fatigue. Most side effects disappear once treatment is stopped.

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Prostate Cancer: Combo Treatment Works
One of the longest ever follow-up studies of radioactive seed implants for prostate cancer shows the treatment to be highly effective in combination with

Prostate Cancer Info : education, support, male hormone therapy
The amount of time that the seeds remain radioactive depends on the dose and Injectable Radioactive Compounds Prostate cancer that has spread to the

Radiation seeds effectively cure prostate cancer in young men
PhysOrg news: Radiation seeds effectively cure prostate cancer in young men.

Prostate Cancer Radioactive Seed Implants - WebMD
Radioactive seed implants are a form of radiation therapy for prostate cancer, also known as brachytherapy or internal radiation therapy.

Radiation Seed Helps Men Fight Prostate Cancer - Cancer
Brachytherapy is a minimally invasive procedure in which small radioactive seeds are placed in the prostate to kill cancer cells. Recovery time after seed

Prostate Cancer: Radiation / Seeds
Discussion of the various types of radiation therapy including external beam, conformal therapy, seed implants, or combined modalities.

Radiation Seeds Effectively Cure Prostate Cancer In Young Men
Radiation seed implants are just as effective at curing prostate cancer in younger men (aged 60 and younger) as they are in older men, according to a study

New radioactive seed used to treat prostate cancer
A Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center team recently became the first to use a new type of Áœradioactive seedÁ« to treat a patient with prostate cancer.

MedlinePlus Interactive Tutorials: Radiation Therapy for Prostate
Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer. Start Tutorial. Starts multimedia presentation with questions. Requires Flash Player. Download Flash

Prostate Cancer Radiation Seeds
A good though somewhat technical article on radioactive seed implant therapy - Brachytherapy - for newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients.

Cancer Treatment: Radiation Seed Implant Decreases Risk Of Death
Brachytherapy is a procedure where a radiation oncologist places small radioactive seeds into the prostate to kill the cancer cells while the man is sedated

Prostate Cancer Treatment - Brachytherapy
The seeds remain in the prostate, where the radioactive material gives off localized radiation for a number of months to destroy the prostate cancer.

Radioactive seed implants highly effective in prostate cancer
Fifteen years follow up after studying 223 patients with localized prostate cancer showed that radioactive seed implants are a highly effective treatment in

Prostate Cancer Treatment Options -- familydoctor.org
Information about prostate cancer treatment options from the American In another type, radioactive pellets (called "seeds") are injected into the

Facts about Prostate Brachytherapy
The use of radioactive seed implants for prostate cancer is not new. This technique has long held promise as a method of delivering a very high dose of

Prostate Cancer
Tiny radioactive seeds (about the size of a grain of rice) are implanted into the prostate, where the radiation kills the cancer cells.

Prostate cancer guide - MayoClinic.com
Radioactive seed implants are injected directly into the prostate and are being used more frequently as a treatment for prostate cancer.

Prostate Cancer: Seed Implant Therapy
Treatment of Prostate Cancer: Radioactive Seed Implantation. (Brachytherapy). Duke K. Bahn, M.D.. Department of Radiology, Crittenton Hospital, Rochester,

eMedicine - Prostate Cancer: Brachytherapy (Radioactive Seed
Prostate Cancer: Brachytherapy (Radioactive Seed Implantation Therapy) - Currently, the potentially curative treatment modalities offered to patients with


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