When illness occurs, the patient has to face up the difficult choice of appropriate treatment. To cure prostate cancer, medicine is offering several treatment options. Manage cancer cure and people’s quality of life preservation is not always easy. Discover in this article the different treatment options offered to patients.
Prostate cancer treatments
Prostate cancer is a lump, more or less or large, located in the prostate gland underneath the man’s bladder. This lump, triggered by an excessive multiplication of abnormal cells, can be characteristic of a localized cancer. There are several medical solutions to treat the disease.
External radiotherapy
Treatment consists in prevent cancer cells from multiplying by destroying them. This prostate cancer treatment uses high-dose ionizing radiation directed at the area to be treated, preserving the surrounding tissues as much as possible. Process is painless. It takes about 40 sessions, 5 times a week, over a period of 4 to 8 weeks. The main side effects of this prostate cancer treatment are sexual dysfunction (inability to have or maintain an erection) and intestinal disorders.
Brachytherapy
This treatment is a local cancer treatment solution that can be applied to localized prostate cancer. In some cases, it can be combined with external radiotherapy. This involves treating the prostate cancer by placing radioactive implants (between 50 and 100 small radioactive seeds) inside the gland. These will destroy the cancer cells. Side effects are generally identical to those of external radiotherapy.
Prostatectomy
This is a major surgery performed under general anaesthesia. It consists in removing the entire prostate and seminal vesicles, by either incision or laparoscopy. It is one of the standard treatments for localized prostate cancer. Although the goal remains healing, it is important to know that the removal of the prostate gland, a sexual gland, results in altering urinary and sexual functions.
Benefits of HIFU treatment for the patient
Treating the prostate cancer while preserving the patient’s quality of life is what HIFU treatment offers.
HIFU treatment is a non-invasive medical technique indicated for localized prostate cancer. Treatment is performed without incision nor radiation. High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) will destroy the cancerous cells. The temperature is raised only at the targeted area, leaving the surrounding tissues intact. Side effects are limited since the urinary sphincter and erectile nerves are preserved.
For the patient treated with HIFU, benefits are evident:
- A short hospital stay (often performed as “outpatient” where the patient goes home the same day)
- A non-invasive method (no incision, no radiation)
- A treatment that can be repeated
- Few side effects compared to other treatments
- A rapid return to normal life and activities
Recognized for its effectiveness, HIFU treatment also has the advantage of preserving patients’ quality of life.
Sources : http://www.e-cancer.fr/ and http://www.urofrance.org/