Prostate cancer treatment depends on a variety of factors, including age, how advanced the cancer is, overall health and the side effects of treatment. Your doctor will be able to help you decide on the best treatment option for your unique situation. However, a few common treatments include:
- Watchful Waiting. If you have a slow-growing cancer or limited life expectancy, watchful waiting is often the preferred treatment. Tests are routinely done, and if uncomfortable symptoms develop, active treatment may be recommended.
- Hormone Therapy. This form of treatment limits the supply of hormones that cancer cells require to grow, particularly testosterone. This slows the growth of the cancer, and is typically used in more advanced cases.
- Radiation Therapy. Radiation is often preferred when prostate cancer is confined to the prostate area and hasn’t spread, but it can also be used to control pain in more advanced cases. Radiation damages tumor cells that divide quickly, and can be delivered from outside of the body or by implanting material inside the prostate.
- Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy can slow or reverse the spread of prostate cancer in more advanced stages. Drugs are injected into your bloodstream to poison the rapidly dividing cancer cells, but the drugs also affect healthy cells in the process. Common side effects include nausea and hair loss.
- Surgery. If prostate cancer is caught early and tumors are confined inside the prostate, surgery can be performed to remove cancerous tissue from the body and cure the cancer. Options include open radical prostatectomy and radical prostatectomy. Less invasive options include Da Vinci Robotic Surgery and cryosurgery.
At Arkansas Urology, we’re here for you. Our patients’ health has been and will always be our top priority! Would you like to learn more about prostate cancer treatment options? Contact us today to schedule your appointment, or book your appointment online.
