How to Treat Prostate Cancer – 4 Treatment Options

The existing procedures for treating prostate cancer are actually not few in number, and they are potent; but the reason why there are so many of them is that they all have various instances in which they are most effective, and they all have their respective side effects, which may be undesirable for some patients or oncologists. That is why there are still ongoing researches to find even more ? that are expected to be able to yield better results in bringing cure to prostate cancer patients who need them so badly. In the meantime though, we have to make do with what we do have already, a few of which are outlined below.

Transurethral Resection – this is actually a minor surgery on the prostate gland often applied in the instance of a benign tumor. It is a procedure carried out using an endoscope to cut away excess tissues. It is also called a TURP ? transurethral resection of the prostate. The chances of side effects to this treatment are extremely minimal and it is considered safe.

Prostatectomy – this is a standard procedure in which the prostate gland or parts of it are surgically removed to get rid of a tumor growth in it. A radical prostatectomy these days is done with the aid of a surgical robot to reduce the chances of damage to nerves in the prostate and penile region.

Depending on the size of the tumor in question, some radiation treatment and/or some hormonal therapy may be required to reduce the size to the cancer first; otherwise, a laparoscopic prostatectomy is done, many times employing nerve sparring to reduce the chances of things going wrong. Things do go wrong many times, though, often resulting in impotence for the patient. Decidedly not a pretty thought.

Radiation therapy – this is the process of attacking the tumors with ionizing radiation sometimes from an external, and other times from an internal source. The radiation attacks all cells in its path but whilst healthy cells are able to regenerate themselves early enough, the cancerous cell are not. Radiation proctitis occurs often as a side effect because of the damage done to the normal cells, resulting in rectal bleeding and diarrhea, and sometime incontinence. However these symptoms usually fade after a few weeks as the damaged cells recuperate.

Hormonal treatments – these are interventions that deal with the body’s hormone production in order to stall the progression of the carcinoma. It has been determined for a long time that male sexual hormones play a significant role as fuel for the malignancy of the cells of the prostate. Once the body’s hormone production is interfered with, sometimes by the removal of the testes that produce testosterone, or by suppression using ingested or intravenous drugs, it is found that the cancers cease to grow, or at least their growth is slowed.

Better still, there are instances in which the cancer’s growth starts to reverse, although the treatment really never makes the disease go away; after a while, the cancers become resistant and their growth resumes.

Most of these treatments are best applied in early stage of the disease, otherwise the chances of curing the disease plummet significantly.

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