Prostate cancer: what is the treatment?

The management of cancer is essentially individual. Surgery, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, cryotherapy, ... Whatever the type of treatment, and whatever their indications, the only multi-disciplinary team is able to decide ...

The prostate cancer is a malignant tumor that develops in the prostate. This slow-growing cancer is the most frequently seen in men over 50 years. Adenocarcinoma is the histologic type most often encountered.

Signs of prostate cancer are not specific as can be likened to those of benign prostatic hypertrophy.

The therapeutic management of prostate cancer is varied, and established according to the course of the disease stage. Treatment may be a simple oversight, drug therapy, surgery, radiotherapy, hormone treatment .... All of these treatment methods are governed by specific indications, mainly due to the severity stage of prostate cancer. Thus, the evolution in time has no influence on the choice of treatment for prostate cancer is very slow evolution.

A simple surveillance ...

When the tumor is well defined at the prostate and tumor progression remains very slow, no treatment is sometimes the best option, however, medical monitoring should be regularly and closely to monitor the development and progression cancer cells.

This option is generally implemented in the elderly, in order to avoid possible side effects and complications related to treatment. The progression of prostate cancer is very slow, the elderly suffer from other diseases even before onset of clinical signs of cancer. However, a single multidisciplinary team is able to assess the risks and benefits at this stage.

When to operate?

Surgery has better results when the tumor is limited. In the presence of tumor extension to the testicle, there are other surgical techniques for the removal of the tumor while preserving important tissues or organs. Urinary problems and erectile dysfunction are often observed.

Adjuvant therapies

Radiation therapy kills cancer cells, it can be done alone or in addition to surgery. Radiation therapy is often used when the tumor is well defined and easy to identify.

Hormone treatment is administered to reduce the size of the tumor and slow its progression. This therapy is often used in advanced forms, with metastases, or in the manner in which surgery is not indicated. Hormone therapy is also indicated when the rate of recurrence after radiotherapy is high.

Chemotherapy is usually given in case of presence of metastases, with a more advanced stage of the disease. It is often used in addition to surgery or hormone-cancer cases.

Cryosurgery or cryoablation is usually reserved for very small size tumors or precancerous tumors therapeutic method.

However, whatever the indications for treatment, support a person with prostate cancer remains individual and considered on a case by case basis by a multidisciplinary team.