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.

grading prostate cancer
Aggressive treatment of low grade prostate cancer is unnecessary
Aggressive treatment of localised low grade prostate cancer is inappropriate, a study has found. The long term study shows a very small risk of progression

Prostate Cancer Treatment Options by Staging and Grading
The cancer is localized and has not spread outside the prostate gland. Treatment Options by Staging and Grading; Treatment for Localized Prostate Cancer

Finasteride and High-Grade Prostate Cancer in the Prostate Cancer
We assessed whether the increased high-grade prostate cancer associated with finasteride in the PCPT was due to finasteride's potential effects on tumor

Grading | Prostate Cancer Information | UPMC Cancer Centers
The most commonly used prostate cancer grading system, called Gleason grading, evaluates prostate cancer cells on a scale of 1 to 5, based on their pattern

ACS :: How Is Prostate Cancer Diagnosed?
PIN is often divided into low-grade and-high grade. Many men begin to develop low-grade PIN at an early age and do not necessarily develop prostate cancer.

Finasteride Not Linked to High-Grade Cancer - National Cancer
Finasteride is unlikely to induce high-grade prostate cancers in men who take the Finasteride accelerates the detection of high-grade cancer yet may not

Early Prostate Cancer: Questions and Answers - National Cancer
In most men with prostate cancer, the disease grows very slowly. The majority of men with low-grade, early prostate cancer (which means that cancer cells

Prostate Cancer Grading - WebMD
The different grading levels of prostate cancer are explained and what you should expect at each grade.

PROSTATE CANCER OVERVIEW
A concise overview of prostate cancer from a patient's perspective. Before you choose a procedure, you must know the stage and the grade of the cancer.

JAMA -- Grading of Prostate Cancer, October 3, 2007, Zeller et al
The October 3, 2007, issue of JAMA includes an article on the importance of grading prostate cancer and the implications regarding therapy options and

Factors in deciding treatment for prostate cancer
Your doctor will determine your cancer's grade by looking at your cancer cells under a microscope. If your cancer cells resemble nornal prostate cells,

Gleason Grade Migration; changes in grade - Prostate Cancer
Tumor grade refers to the microscopic appearance of cancer tissue obtained after a biopsy or surgery as determined by a pathologist. For prostate cancer

A Primer on Gleason Grading in Prostate Needle Biopsies
This is a critical cut-point in grading prostate cancer, The value of histological grading of prostate cancer after radiation therapy or hormonal

Prostate Cancer Staging and Grading, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI
The Gleason scale is the most common scale used for grading prostate cancer. This system assigns cancer cells a score from 1 to 10, by combining the two

Gleason Grading of Prostate Cancer Illustrated Phoenix5
An illustration by Gleason of the five grades of prostate cancer cells, to produce the Gleason Score to measure the malignancy of the cancer.

Gleason Grading, Understanding it, from the Prostate Cancer
Understanding Gleason Grading, from Prostate Cancer Infolink web site, preserved at Phoenix5.

Grading and staging of prostate cancer : Cancerbackup
An explanation of the systems used to establish the stage and grade of prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer - CNN.com
The most common cancer grading scale runs from 1 to 5, with 1 being the .. and to slightly raise the risk of developing higher grade prostate cancer.

Prostate Cancer - Treatment Strategies
Prostate cancer grade refers to its degree of aggressiveness. The prostate cancer grading system is known as the Gleason score. Gleason is a pathologist who


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