The Options in Prostate Cancer Treatments

Wednesday, 02 May 2007

Prostate cancer has a more than 90% cure rate when detected early. The newest and soon to be implemented treatments for prostate cancer are:

* Surgery– This involves removal of the prostate and surrounding tissue that may be cancerous. If the nerves must be removed during surgery, a man will be rendered impotent. Some surgeons are using grafts with small nerves taken from the side of the foot.

* Radiation Treatment– Better technology is making it possible to aim radiation more precisely than in the past. Studies are on-going to find out which techniques are best for which patients.
* New Treatments– Researchers are studying newer forms of treatment for early stage prostate cancer, as a first treatment or as a treatment after radiation treatment has failed.
* Chemotherapy– new chemotherapy drugs, and drug combinations, are being studied.
* Vaccines– Several types of vaccines to boost the immune system response to prostate cancer are now in clinical trials.
* Monoclonal Antibodies– These are special types of proteins mad in the lab. These proteins target certain parts of the prostate cancer cells. There are several different ones being developed and tested.
* Blood Vessel Growth– For cancer to grow blood vessels must be present of nourish the cancer cells. New drugs are being studied that may help stop the growth of these blood vessels. Several of these drugs are now in clinical trials.
* Bone Pain– Doctors are trying a new way to treat bone pain called radiofrequency ablation. RFA has been used for years to treat tumors in organs. The use of RFA for bone pain is relatively new.
* Emerging Therapies– In labs around the world, researchers are busy working to identify new drugs, new regimens, and new treatment approaches that may prove beneficial to treat this type of cancer.

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