Prostate Treatment Options
During the adolescence period, a walnut-sized gland in the man’s reproductive system gains size significantly. This gland is necessary for the man’s sexual and reproduction function since it produces the semen and that fluid that accompanies the semen during its travel into the reproductive system of a woman after a sexual intercourse. Most men aged 50 up will have to be checked for any enlargement in this said gland to detect any abnormal growth, which could be an onset to prostate cancer. There are many prostate treatment methods, which the doctor can recommend based on:
- Results of the PSA or Prostate Specific Antigen test
- How fast the cancer or tumor is growing
- How far it has spread
- Age of patient
- Life expectancy
- How the treatment can benefit the patient
- What the side effects are
It could be that there is an enlargement of the prostate gland, which is not necessarily prostate cancer. The growth slows down by the age of 25, but resumes again after the age 50. So, by the time a man is 80 years old, he will have developed an enlarged organ. If left without medical attention, this could become a serious disease that could require prostate cancer surgery or other prostate treatment methods like:
• External Beam Radiation Therapy or EBRT is a prostate treatment that is used to eliminate the cancer cells through high-powered x-rays. This is effective but it could also harm the adjacent tissues. This is a quick treatment that lasts for about 10 minutes including preparation time. It is painless and therefore, needs no anesthesia.
• Brachyteraphy is another prostate treatment, which is used in men with small prostates that have low-grade cancers in them. About 40 to 100 small seeds, the size of a grain of rice, are placed in the prostate. These will deliver radiation within a few millimeters and attack the target cells.
• Hormone therapy is used to stop the production of testosterone, which enhances the growth of the cancer. This prostate treatment is intended for those in the early stages of the cancer to shrink the tumor. Those in advanced stages can also benefit from this because the cells will shrink and be more feasible for radiation therapy.
• Radical Prostatectomy is the surgical removal of the whole prostate gland and the lymph nodes around it. This prostate treatment can affect urination and sexual function of the man.
• Watchful waiting is prostate treatment through regular, annual checkups through rectal exams and other necessary tests. There are no medical treatments, medications, surgery, or radiation given. This is used in men with a tumor that causes no symptoms. Their tumors have slow growth rate and are confined in just one specific spot on the prostate.
• Chemotherapy is the prostate treatment that uses chemical to kill the growing cells. It can treat but it cannot cure totally. This is intended for men who have cancers that are hormone-resistant and are spreading rapidly.
