prostate cancer treatment

Prostate Cancer Treatments



If you have prostate cancer, your healthcare team will develop a treatment plan specifically for you. This plan will be based on your health status and information specific to cancer. When your healthcare team decides what treatments you propose for prostate cancer, it takes the following into consideration:

The type and stage of cancer
Gleason Grade or Odds
Possible side effects of treatments
Your personal preferences
Your overall health
Your age and life expectancy
Doctors can also classify prostate cancer according to its risk of recurrence (reappearance) after treatment. Aggressive treatment is usually offered to men with high risk. Those with low risk could be offered active surveillance without receiving immediate treatment. Learn more about the risk of prostate cancer recurrence.

You may be offered one of the following treatments (or an association thereof) for prostate cancer.

Active monitoring
Active surveillance means that the care team is watching you for signs or symptoms that indicate that the cancer is evolving. You will meet your doctor and undergo exams every 3 to 6 months. We will begin to treat you as soon as signs appear that the disease begins to develop or spread (we talk about the evolution of the disease).

Surgery
Depending on the stage of the cancer and your state of health, one of the following types of surgery could be practised.

Radical prostatectomy
During a radical prostatectomy, the prostate and some of the surrounding tissues are removed, including the seminal vesicles. This is the type of surgery most often used to treat prostate cancer.

There are different types of radical prostatectomy, including:

Prostatectomy Radical Retropubic
Prostatectomy Radical Perineal
Laparoscopic Radical prostatectomy
Prostatectomy Radical Robotic
Radical prostatectomy with nerve preservation
Prostate transurethral resection (TURP)
During a transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), a portion of the prostate is removed from the urethra. The purpose of this surgery is to relieve urinary disorders caused by a prostate that has increased in volume and exerts pressure on the urethra. It can also be used to reduce the size of the tumor before starting other treatments. Turp is used to treat men with advanced prostate cancer or those who are not healthy enough to undergo radical prostatectomy.

Cryosurgery

Cryosurgery uses extreme cold (liquid nitrogen or liquid carbon dioxide) to freeze and destroy abnormal cells. For the time being, Cryosurgery remains an experimental treatment for prostate cancer. Doctors sometimes use it to treat prostate cancer that reappears (recurrence) after radiation therapy.

Pelvic lymph node cleaning

In a pelvic lymph node (also called Pelvic lymphadenectomy), the lymph nodes of the pelvis are removed. This intervention can be carried out at the same time as a radical prostatectomy.

Radiotherapy

Radiation therapy is a common treatment for prostate cancer. Different techniques are used, including external radiotherapy, brachytherapy and systemic radiation therapy.

Hormone therapy

Hormone therapy is most often used to treat advanced prostate cancer or prostate cancer that reappears (relapse) after other treatments. It can be administered during the same period of time as radiation therapy.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy can be used in the case of advanced prostate cancer. It can be used to treat prostate cancer that does not respond to hormone therapy or reappears (recurrence) after being treated with hormone-resistant prostate cancer. In men with metastatic prostate cancer, chemotherapy is also sometimes administered at the same time as hormone therapy.

High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU)

High intensity focused ultrasound treatment (HIFU) uses focused ultrasound to create intense heat that destroys cancer cells. For the moment, Hifu are an experimental treatment for prostate cancer. Doctors sometimes use it to treat prostate cancer that reappears (recurrence) after radiation.

Corticosteroids

Corticosteroids are steroid hormones that act as anti-inflammatory agents by attenuating swelling and immune response (the reaction of the immune system to the presence of extraneous substances in the body). They are sometimes administered at the same time as chemotherapy to increase their efficacy and to reduce their side effects. They can also be used alone if a person is too sick to receive chemotherapy. Corticosteroids can help slow the growth of prostate cancer cells and relieve symptoms such as pain.

Prednisone and dexamethasone (Decadron, Dexasone) are the most commonly used corticosteroids to treat prostate cancer.

If you can not or do not want to receive cancer treatment

You might want to consider care that aims to make you feel better without treating the cancer itself, perhaps because cancer treatments no longer work, it is no longer likely that they will improve your condition or that their side effects are Difficult to tolerate. Other reasons may explain why you may not or don't want to receive cancer treatment.

Talk to the members of your healthcare team. They can help you choose the care and treatment of advanced cancer.

Followed

Follow-up after treatment is an important component of care for people with cancer. You will need regular follow-up visits, especially during the first five years after the end of the treatment. These visits will allow the care team to monitor your progress and find out how you are recovering from treatment.

Clinical trials

Many clinical trials of prostate cancer are underway in Canada and accept participants. Clinical trials are aimed at finding better ways to prevent, detect and treat cancer. Learn more about clinical trials

Questions to ask about treatment

In order to make the right decisions for you, ask questions about the treatment to your care team.