| Causes, prevention and humane, up-to-date treatment Real-life research by Al Smith and Faith Warn |
 |  |  |  |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Prostate cancer treatment
The old ways - and the new
‘Conventional’ treatments for prostate cancer involve surgery
and pharmaceutical drugs, radiation and chemotherapy. Most
are based on research theories formed in 1941.
For early cancer presumed to be contained in the prostate
the treatments are:
For advanced cancer that has spread beyond the prostate,
treatment is hormone manipulation therapy to deprive the
prostate of testosterone by:
All of these treatments carry risks and side effects from
impotence and incontinence to hot flushes, swollen breasts,
heart disease, osteoporosis and spread or return of the cancer.
Unfortunately, even the biopsy used for diagnosis carries the
risk of causing infection and spreading cancer cells.
For advanced cancer, hormone manipulation only works for
about two years on average. Men may then be offered either
manufactured oestrogen or doses of chemotherapy, both of
which have unpleasant side effects and also provide only
temporary relief.
Prostate cancer is a field of medicine where new research and
fresh hope have been desperately needed.
New prostate cancer treatments
The old ways - and the new
‘Conventional’ treatments for prostate cancer involve surgery
and pharmaceutical drugs, radiation and chemotherapy. Most
are based on research theories formed in 1941.
For early cancer presumed to be contained in the prostate
the treatments are:
- Surgery to remove the prostate and surrounding lymph
glands (radical prostatectomy) - Radical radiotherapy aimed at destroying cancer cells
For advanced cancer that has spread beyond the prostate,
treatment is hormone manipulation therapy to deprive the
prostate of testosterone by:
- Surgical castration
- Injections of LH-RH agonists that suppress production of
testosterone - Anti-androgen drugs that prevent the prostate cells from
taking up testosterone
All of these treatments carry risks and side effects from
impotence and incontinence to hot flushes, swollen breasts,
heart disease, osteoporosis and spread or return of the cancer.
Unfortunately, even the biopsy used for diagnosis carries the
risk of causing infection and spreading cancer cells.
For advanced cancer, hormone manipulation only works for
about two years on average. Men may then be offered either
manufactured oestrogen or doses of chemotherapy, both of
which have unpleasant side effects and also provide only
temporary relief.
Prostate cancer is a field of medicine where new research and
fresh hope have been desperately needed.
New prostate cancer treatments
| "99% of men tell lies. No wonder when our culture tells us you need to have power, be rich, look like Brad Pitt, get a Porsche to be a man. But these things do not make a man. We need to accept ourselves as we are" Luc Besson, film-maker |