Prostate Cancer Therapies
One in six men in the USA and Canada will need some form of prostate cancer treatment. This is a frightening idea, but countering it is the knowledge that around 90% of cases of prostate cancer are cured successfully.
Prostate cancers may be cut out, irradiated or otherwise treated. The sole requirement for guaranteed success is an early diagnosis. However, even if diagnosis is a little late, there is still a good chance of recovery, it is only that the cure might be more severe.
Before we go any farther on this issue, I have to warn you that what I am writing is my interpretation of my own research into prostate cancer. I am not a doctor; merely an interested party being a male who is beginning to enter the age bracket where the rate of prostate cancer begins to rise. I am over 50.
Prostate cancer is one of the more easily treatable cancers but it is certainly life-threatening. It is a significant illness that will kill you if you do nothing about it. The trick is to diagnose it early. The earlier you diagnose it, the more easily, more painlessly and more quickly it can be dealt with.
After a quick, simple and painless test, you will be told the likelihood that you have prostate cancer, but this test is not decisive, you will have to go for further tests to corroborate the diagnosis. If the check ups prove that you have a problem, your oncologist or urologist will determine a answer.
These are a few of the terms used when defining prostate cancer:
Stage One: cancer is found just in the prostate
Stage Two: a larger cancer but it is still discovered just within the prostate gland itself
Stage Three: the tumor is beginning to spread outside the prostate
Stage Four: the tumor is spreading outside the prostate to a greater degree
Stage Five: the cancer has spread to other regions of the body - metastasis.
Recurrent: the cancer comes back after therapy.
These different stages of prostate cancer might be treated in different methods:
Stage 1: sometimes referred to as localized prostate cancer, the doctor may suggest the following treatments: Wait and see. (Closely monitored) - Radiotherapy - Radical prostatectomy (full removal of the prostate) - Hormone therapy
Stage 2: this is more advanced but still localized within the prostate only: watchful waiting (with increased monitoring activity); Radiotherapy (may or may not be done with hormone therapy); radical prostatectomy (maybe with hormone therapy or not); hormone therapy
Stage 3: the cancer has progressed outside the prostate to nearby tissue: external-beam radiotherapy (Hormone Therapy or not) - hormone therapy - radical abstraction of the prostate (possibly hormone therapy or not) or Increased monitoring by the doctors
Stage 5: the prostate cancer has metastasized (spread throughout body and bones): hormone treatment - External-beam radiotherapy (with or without hormone treatment) - very closely monitored - chemotherapy
Recurrence of Prostate Cancer: Close monitoring - Possibly all of the above treatments
Prostate cancers may be cut out, irradiated or otherwise treated. The sole requirement for guaranteed success is an early diagnosis. However, even if diagnosis is a little late, there is still a good chance of recovery, it is only that the cure might be more severe.
Before we go any farther on this issue, I have to warn you that what I am writing is my interpretation of my own research into prostate cancer. I am not a doctor; merely an interested party being a male who is beginning to enter the age bracket where the rate of prostate cancer begins to rise. I am over 50.
Prostate cancer is one of the more easily treatable cancers but it is certainly life-threatening. It is a significant illness that will kill you if you do nothing about it. The trick is to diagnose it early. The earlier you diagnose it, the more easily, more painlessly and more quickly it can be dealt with.
After a quick, simple and painless test, you will be told the likelihood that you have prostate cancer, but this test is not decisive, you will have to go for further tests to corroborate the diagnosis. If the check ups prove that you have a problem, your oncologist or urologist will determine a answer.
These are a few of the terms used when defining prostate cancer:
Stage One: cancer is found just in the prostate
Stage Two: a larger cancer but it is still discovered just within the prostate gland itself
Stage Three: the tumor is beginning to spread outside the prostate
Stage Four: the tumor is spreading outside the prostate to a greater degree
Stage Five: the cancer has spread to other regions of the body - metastasis.
Recurrent: the cancer comes back after therapy.
These different stages of prostate cancer might be treated in different methods:
Stage 1: sometimes referred to as localized prostate cancer, the doctor may suggest the following treatments: Wait and see. (Closely monitored) - Radiotherapy - Radical prostatectomy (full removal of the prostate) - Hormone therapy
Stage 2: this is more advanced but still localized within the prostate only: watchful waiting (with increased monitoring activity); Radiotherapy (may or may not be done with hormone therapy); radical prostatectomy (maybe with hormone therapy or not); hormone therapy
Stage 3: the cancer has progressed outside the prostate to nearby tissue: external-beam radiotherapy (Hormone Therapy or not) - hormone therapy - radical abstraction of the prostate (possibly hormone therapy or not) or Increased monitoring by the doctors
Stage 5: the prostate cancer has metastasized (spread throughout body and bones): hormone treatment - External-beam radiotherapy (with or without hormone treatment) - very closely monitored - chemotherapy
Recurrence of Prostate Cancer: Close monitoring - Possibly all of the above treatments
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a variety of subjects, but is now concerned with prostate cancer and radiation treatment. If you want to know more go to What is the Treatment for Prostate Cancer?
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