Prostate cancer can be treated in more than one way. Depending on the rate of growth, age, life expectancy, stage and spread, combination therapy is often used. The most common treatments for prostate cancer include the following:
Radiation: One may either receive direct radiation therapy to the prostate or the surgeon may place small radioactive implants in the prostate. They both work by killing the cancer cells. Today, radiation therapy is applied in a very sophisticated way to prevent toxicity.
With precise focusing of radiation beams, greater doses of radiation can be given to decrease the frequency of complications. During the radiation therapy, all individuals are protected by custom-designed shields.
Radiation treatments are generally given over a 6-8 week period. Radioactive seed implants: Another radiation option is to implant radioactive seeds into the prostate gland. Implantation of these seeds is also known as brachytherapy. Unlike external beam radiation, these implanted seeds deliver a higher dose of localized radiation than do external beams over a much longer period of time.
The implantation of these radioactive seeds requires surgery under general anesthesia and takes about 1-3 hours. This therapy is generally used in men with small to moderate size low grade prostate cancers. Because the radiation exposure is limited to the prostate, there is no risk to others.
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