Important Information Dealing With Hormone Treatment For Prostate Cancer
Once a prostate tumor is present in the body, certain male hormones help to promote its growth.
So hormone treatment for prostate cancer can be used to block the production of those male hormones, resulting in either stalling the growth of the cancer or even shrinking the existing cancer.
This method can be very effective for keeping the cancer under control for an extended period of time.
Hormone treatment for prostate cancer can also be successful when the cancer ahs spread to other parts of the body, including the bones, lymph nodes, liver or lungs.
When the disease has spread throughout the body, it's no longer possible to remove the cancer with surgery, or even radiation.
It's too difficult to locate all the cancer cells in the body.
However hormone treatment can access cancer cells throughout the body, no matter how tiny they might be.
It can also be used in situations where the patient is too physically weak to undergo surgery.
It's important to understand that hormonal therapy is not a cure for prostate cancer.
However, it can do a very good job of slowing down the progression of the cancer, by restricting the growth of the prostate cancer cells, which are hormone dependent.
Let's take a look at the three main types of hormonal treatment used for prostate cancer.
Anti-androgen Therapy In order to inhibit the growth of the cancer, anti-androgens are used to block the production of testosterone.
Using anti-androgen therapy only reduces the amount of testosterone, rather than eliminating it completely, so it generally has fewer side effects than other treatments such as medical castration.
It's possible that anti-androgen will only be prescribed intermittently, rather than being used constantly.
Interestingly, the body actually benefits from the withdrawal effect of stopping treatment.
There are three main anti-androgen drugs used to treat prostate cancer:Flutamide Nilutamide Bicalutamide All of these are oral tablets, and they should be taken at the same time each day in order to reduce the chance of nausea.
Other side effects are possible, so these should be discussed with your doctor if you notice them.
Your doctor may change your medication in order to avoid the side effects.
Diarrhea is the main side effect noticed, although others may experience liver problems, fatigue or queasiness.
Generally men with an active sex life won't find their libido or potency are affected in any way.
Orchiectomy Orchiectomy is the surgical removal of the testicles, which is also referred to as medical castration.
This is a rather drastic form of treatment, with potential side effects ranging from hot flushes to a loss of sexual desire or impotence.
It's important for your urologist to conduct a range of tests before recommending this treatment option.
Transillumination involves shining a very bright light through the testicle, to make sure the growth isn't a benign cyst.
An ultrasound will also be conducted, where high-frequency sound waves are rebounded off the tissues in your body.
The waves are converted into pictures, and will help to show whether the growth is a solid mass, which suggests a tumor, rather than filled with fluid, which is probably a cyst.
Although an ultrasound is highly effective for diagnosis tumors, it's unable to indicate whether or not they are benign.
Unfortunately ninety five percent of testicular tumors are malignant, and it's necessary to check some of the growth's cells under a microscope to be certain.
LH-RH Agonists (Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone) Generally, these drugs are used in order to reduce the symptoms of advanced prostate cancer.
Lupron Depot (leuprolide acetate for depot suspension) is one of the most common drugs chosen.
LH-RH agonists can't cure prostate cancer, but they can be very effective at reducing the levels of testosterone that the testicles produce.
In some instances they may even do this as efficiently as medical castration.
However these drugs are very expensive, and the treatment needs to be monitored regularly, which is why surgery is usually chosen as the preferred treatment.
So hormone treatment for prostate cancer can be used to block the production of those male hormones, resulting in either stalling the growth of the cancer or even shrinking the existing cancer.
This method can be very effective for keeping the cancer under control for an extended period of time.
Hormone treatment for prostate cancer can also be successful when the cancer ahs spread to other parts of the body, including the bones, lymph nodes, liver or lungs.
When the disease has spread throughout the body, it's no longer possible to remove the cancer with surgery, or even radiation.
It's too difficult to locate all the cancer cells in the body.
However hormone treatment can access cancer cells throughout the body, no matter how tiny they might be.
It can also be used in situations where the patient is too physically weak to undergo surgery.
It's important to understand that hormonal therapy is not a cure for prostate cancer.
However, it can do a very good job of slowing down the progression of the cancer, by restricting the growth of the prostate cancer cells, which are hormone dependent.
Let's take a look at the three main types of hormonal treatment used for prostate cancer.
Anti-androgen Therapy In order to inhibit the growth of the cancer, anti-androgens are used to block the production of testosterone.
Using anti-androgen therapy only reduces the amount of testosterone, rather than eliminating it completely, so it generally has fewer side effects than other treatments such as medical castration.
It's possible that anti-androgen will only be prescribed intermittently, rather than being used constantly.
Interestingly, the body actually benefits from the withdrawal effect of stopping treatment.
There are three main anti-androgen drugs used to treat prostate cancer:
Other side effects are possible, so these should be discussed with your doctor if you notice them.
Your doctor may change your medication in order to avoid the side effects.
Diarrhea is the main side effect noticed, although others may experience liver problems, fatigue or queasiness.
Generally men with an active sex life won't find their libido or potency are affected in any way.
Orchiectomy Orchiectomy is the surgical removal of the testicles, which is also referred to as medical castration.
This is a rather drastic form of treatment, with potential side effects ranging from hot flushes to a loss of sexual desire or impotence.
It's important for your urologist to conduct a range of tests before recommending this treatment option.
Transillumination involves shining a very bright light through the testicle, to make sure the growth isn't a benign cyst.
An ultrasound will also be conducted, where high-frequency sound waves are rebounded off the tissues in your body.
The waves are converted into pictures, and will help to show whether the growth is a solid mass, which suggests a tumor, rather than filled with fluid, which is probably a cyst.
Although an ultrasound is highly effective for diagnosis tumors, it's unable to indicate whether or not they are benign.
Unfortunately ninety five percent of testicular tumors are malignant, and it's necessary to check some of the growth's cells under a microscope to be certain.
LH-RH Agonists (Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone) Generally, these drugs are used in order to reduce the symptoms of advanced prostate cancer.
Lupron Depot (leuprolide acetate for depot suspension) is one of the most common drugs chosen.
LH-RH agonists can't cure prostate cancer, but they can be very effective at reducing the levels of testosterone that the testicles produce.
In some instances they may even do this as efficiently as medical castration.
However these drugs are very expensive, and the treatment needs to be monitored regularly, which is why surgery is usually chosen as the preferred treatment.
Source...