Depending on the patient’s age and the stage of the disease, prostate cancer sometimes requires medical intervention. Different methods are available: surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy or hormone therapy.
What treatment is available for prostate cancer?
When prostate cancer is diagnosed through screening, it is important to assess the risks associated with the disease. Prostate cancer is not very aggressive and sometimes goes unnoticed. As a result, it may not bother you at all. Depending on the stage and age of the patient, it may not be touched.
If there are symptoms or if an operation is necessary, there are several methods of treating prostate cancer.
Prostatectomy
This is the most common treatment for prostate cancer. Performed by a urologist, it involves the complete removal of the prostate gland. The disadvantages are
- Urinary incontinence (affecting around 5 to 8% of men operated on)
- Impotence (affecting 40-50% of men operated on)
Radiotherapy
This is a local treatment in which radiation is used to destroy cancer cells. They can then no longer multiply or restore themselves. Side effects include
- Local inflammation (rectum and/or bladder)
- Impotence (affecting around 20 to 30 patients out of 100)
Hormone therapy
Hormone therapy involves administering hormones into the body to combat prostate cancer. The aim is to block certain hormones or block their action on the tumour. It is a fairly heavy treatment that is used if other treatments are not possible. The main side effects are
- Vomiting, nausea
- weight gain
- Disturbance of intestinal transit
- Loss of sexual desire
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is not the first-line treatment for prostate cancer. Administered intravenously, it acts against diseased cells throughout the body. It is used when the cancer has metastasised (which is rare, given the nature of this cancer), and often as a complement to hormone therapy.
The treatment is obviously a heavy one, and comes with its share of drawbacks: nausea, vomiting, hair loss and so on. It really is the treatment of last resort, if all other methods fail and treatment is necessary.
HIFU treatment
A new treatment option for prostate cancer is HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound) treatment. This innovative, minimally invasive method of treating prostate cancer uses high-frequency ultrasound waves to destroy cancer cells through heat without damaging the surrounding healthy tissue.
The treatment is particularly suitable for localised prostate cancer and offers several advantages such as a shorter recovery time, fewer side effects and no surgical intervention. A HIFU session usually lasts 1 to 3 hours and often allows patients to return to their daily routine after just a few weeks.
Close monitoring to avoid prostate cancer treatment
Sometimes prostate cancer treatment is not necessary. Because the disease progresses slowly, close monitoring is sometimes all that’s needed. If the disease progresses, another operation may be considered.
If the patient does not suffer any distressing symptoms and his or her quality of life is not impaired, it is quite possible to dispense with treatment altogether. This option should, of course, be discussed with the patient’s urologist, GP and family.
