Now The Truth About Prostate Cancer Treatments

Were you aware that nearly 1 out of 6 men living in North America (US and Canada) will have to have some form of prostate cancer treatments during their lifetime? That statistic certainly should have caught your attention. Did it? If you happen to be the 1 out of 6 diagnosed with a prostate malignancy, you are fortunate to live in this day and time. You stand more than a 98% to 100% chance of living more than 5 years after treatment. It is the intent of this article to help educate you about some treatments for prostate cancer.

This article is not intended as medical advice, nor should it be taken as medical advice. It is for informational purposes only. As always with a physical illness you should consult your personal physician right away. Now you can read on for more information.

Although prostate cancer has an extremely high survival rate, compared to other types of cancer, it is still a very serious illness. When your general practitioner informs you of your illness, it is important for you and your GP to discuss it in full. In a great many cases your doctor will refer you to a specialist, such as an urologist or oncologist for further testing and treatment.

Once the results from the advanced testing have been obtained, your doctors will know; which of 1 of 5 stages of development your cancer is in. Depending on the stage of development the tumor is in, will determine the battle plan you and your physician will put together.

Stage One: Malignancy found within the prostate only

Stage Two: More advanced cancer but still contained within the prostate

Stage Three: More advanced and spread outside the prostate to surrounding tissue

Stage Five: Cancer has metastasized (spread) to other parts of body

Recurrent: Cancer has returned after treatments

As this particular form of cancer is a very slow growing type of cancer, there are several options; you and your health professional may elect to follow. Below are some of the options available to you depending on which stage your cancer is in.

Stage 1: Often referred to as localized, the physician may suggest the following treatments:

• Wait and see. (Closely monitored)
• Radiotherapy
• Radical prostatectomy (full removal of the prostate)
• Hormone therapy

Stage 2: More advanced but still localized within the prostate only:

• Watchful waiting (with increased monitoring activity)
• Radiotherapy (may or may not be with hormone therapy)
• Radical prostatectomy (perhaps hormone therapy or not)
• Hormone therapy

Stage 3: Cancer advanced outside the prostate to nearby tissue:
• External-beam radiotherapy (Hormone Therapy or not)
• Hormone Therapy
• Radical removal of prostate (possible hormone therapy or not)
• Increased monitoring by the doctors

Stage 5: Prostate cancer metastasized (spread through out body and bones):

• Hormone therapy
• External-beam radiotherapy (with or without hormone therapy)
• Very closely monitored
• Chemotherapy

Reoccurrence of Prostate Cancer:

• Close monitoring
• Possibly all of the above treatments

As you can see from the above there are a good number of options open to men with prostate cancer. It will be up to you and your doctor to determine which prostate cancer treatment or combination of treatment would be right for you.