What Is The Best Prostate Cancer Treatment?

Posted on July 29th, 2010 in Cancer by admin

What is the best prostate cancer treatment? This question has haunted millions of men and their doctors for well over one hundred years. And the thing is there may not be a definitive answer for the question. However, it is the intent of this article to give you food for thought and might help you form some questions to ask your doctor.

First let’s get this out of the way. This article is not intended as medical advice, nor should it be taken as medical advice. It is for informational purposes only. As always with a physical illness you should consult your personal physician right away. Now you can read on for more information.

There are many factors which have to be taken under consideration, by you and your medical team, before locking in the proper treatment for you. What makes this difficult is each individual man diagnosed with prostate cancer is going to be different from the other guy. One guy may be in almost perfect health, except for the beginning stage of the malignancy. The next guy may have other life threatening diseases, which will restrict the type of treatment to be given.

Now here is one thing which may well upset you. Depending on what stage your prostate cancer is in your Doctor may well prescribe not to do anything. That’s right! He may just want you to wait and watch. The reason for this is prostate cancer is so slow growing and the symptoms are so slow developing, he may not know which treatment may be the best for you. However, this period of watching will make sure your team of medical professionals gets your treatment right, the first time around.

Now that you are over your shock here is some more information which may ease your mind.

The truth is the best prostate cancer treatment may well only be one type of treatment or it may be a combination of several. In other words again depending on the stage level of your illness one or more treatments will be recommended. This can be a complex decision so you may want to get a second opinion. Don�t hesitate to get that 2nd opinion if you are uncomfortable with your team�s recommendation. In the next few moments you will read more about some of these treatments or combinations thereof.

Depending on whether your cancer has spread into the close surrounding tissue of the prostrate or has remained localized (remain inside the prostate) radiotherapy by itself may be used. This treatment is administered by a focused x-ray beam directly to the prostate gland. It can also be used if the tumor has masticated and infected the immediate surrounding tissue or lymph�s of the prostate.

Although some of the tumor has broken off and spread to the tissues it still may be considered to be localized. When this does happen the most effective treatment may be a combination of radiotherapy and perhaps hormone therapy. This means the infected areas will receive radioactive waves plus a hormone which will block the male testosterone being release into the prostate.

However, you may also find your medical team will recommend the above treatment combined with a radical prostatectomy. What this means for you is of course removal of the prostate and the radioactive treatment to the surrounding tissues. With the advances made in medical technology, such as laser beams, the prostatectomy can be performed with little or no damage done to the surrounding nerves and nerve endings.

That is really good news for the majority of men now, as it means you will not have anywhere near the problems with erectile dysfunction, as so many did in the past years.

In conclusion common sense tells you that you have many options as for as to the treatment you will receive for prostate cancer. But as stated above it is important for you to consult your medical team before deciding on the best prostate cancer treatment.

Tips About Prostate Cancer Radiation Treatment

Posted on July 27th, 2010 in Cancer by admin

Astonishingly enough prostate cancer radiation treatment (also referred to as Radiotherapy) may not be the best treatment for you if you have prostate cancer. In fact, depending on your age and health it may be years before radiation treatment becomes necessary. Radiation therapy is only one of the therapies you and your doctor will have to decide on. These tips will give you an idea of which type of therapy or combination of therapy you should ask your doctor about.

First a note of caution:

This article is not intended as medical advice, nor should it be taken as medical advice. It is for informational purposes only. As always with a physical illness you should consult your personal physician right away. Please read on.

One of the first things you need to know is a prostate malignancy is perhaps one of the slowest growing tumors of all the other cancers. Because it is so slow growing years may pass with out any noticeable growth of the tumor. When this happens your doctor will generally tell you that you are in Stage One of the disease.

This means your attending physician may well take a “wait and see” attitude. Before, he or she, decide what course of action is to be taken. You may even think the doctor is being somewhat cavalier about the whole thing. Rest assured though your doctor is not being cavalier. He or she is doing what most practicing physicians will do when you are first diagnosed with prostrate cancer and making the decision if prostate cancer radiation treatment is needed.

During this “wait and see” period your doctor will monitor you closely. There are several tests your physician will use to do this. Actually there is no one test which can determine on its own if you have prostate cancer. Perhaps the most common one is a test known as the Digital Rectal Examination.

More than likely this is the test your doctor may have used to decide you may have a problem with your prostate. This test is quite simple, but uncomfortable, requires the doctor to insert a gloved finger up the rectum. Doing so enables, he or she, to feel the prostate and tumors, thus enabling them to tell if there has been a change in the size of the tumor or additional tumors have formed. There are other tests such as the PSA blood test.

The PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) is a protein which is produced by (you guest it) the prostate gland. Small amounts of the protein pass into the body through the blood.
A normal PSA count, in the blood, is between zero and four.

However, depending on your age it could be higher. Once it reaches a level of 10 or more it can indicate the possibility of prostate cancer. But the truth is other physical conditions could also have the level that high, that is why a PSA test is not the only test used to detect the malignancy. Additional blood test and other test or used to finalize the diagnoses and form a plan of attack on the disease.

One form of attack may be the use of prostate cancer radiation treatment. The Radiotherapy is when your doctor will use a high intensity x-ray to beam radiation directly onto the prostate. This is done in small doses of a few minutes duration at a time. In most cases you will be able to return home the same day. Normally this therapy will be recommended if the disease is localized instead of surgery.

As you have read, there are many tests and other factors, which your doctor must consider, before deciding if prostate cancer radiation treatment should be your plan of attack.

The Truth About A Prostate Cancer Cure

Posted on July 25th, 2010 in Cancer by admin

Every year in the United States alone more than 186,000 men, just diagnosed with a malignancy of the prostate, are hoping there is a prostate cancer cure. These one hundred and eighty six thousand men join an exclusive club of approximately 5 million others in the U.S. with prostate cancer. Out of the five million, approximately 28,000 will die each year from the disease of prostate cancer. However, thousands of others with a malignant prostate will die from other diseases and natural causes, but not from the effects of prostate cancer. This article will explore the truth about a prostate cancer cure.

Sidebar: This article is not intended as medical advice, nor should it be taken as medical advice. It is for informational purposes only. As always with a physical illness you should consult your personal physician right away. Please read on for more information. End of Sidebar.

At the present time there is no cure for prostate cancer. In other words no one treatment or combination of treatment has been found to be 100% effective in curing a malignant tumor of the prostate. But, nearly all men with the prostate disease can take hope. The primary reason for this hope is that many of these treatments and combination of treatments have been found to slow or stop the growth of the cancer for more than 5 years or longer.

As a matter of fact more than 98% of all men, with cancer of the prostate, will find themselves in total remission after being treated for the disease. Many of these same men will go on to live for more than 10 years or longer. Some Doctors have gone as far as to tell their patients they have experienced �a prostate cancer cure� when they have lived 10 years or longer. However, the same medical professionals continue to advise these men to be screened on a regular basis.

Primarily because of the risk of the same type of cancer returning or hidden cancer cells were not destroyed during the treatments. Thus allowing these cells to escape into the blood stream and perhaps infecting other organs or bones of the body. Again this type of cancer is so slow growing it may take years for it to manifest itself in other areas of the body.

Those in the medical community continue to believe that a prostate cancer cure is just around the corner, because of the above results and further research into the genetics of the cancer cell. Furthermore, other studies which are currently underway or looking at a vaccine that may prevent prostate cancer from occurring. It is hoped these studies will also shed additional light on a possible cure of the cancer.

Frankly, it is not difficult to visualize there being a complete cure within the very near future. Such great strides have been made over the last two decades in research and technology. Even as you are reading this article, new technology is on the drawing board which will advance overall treatment of prostate cancer and possibly lead to that ever elusive cure.

In conclusion if you are among the 186,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, you may well see a prostate cancer cure, long before it can kill you. In order to be one of those �cured� consult with your Doctors and stay informed.

Proven Prostate Cancer Treatment Options

Posted on July 23rd, 2010 in Cancer by admin

Did you know with the prostate cancer treatment options available today a cure or total remission is almost a 100% foregone conclusion? The truth is astonishing at what has taken place in treatment options over the last 2 decades. You will read about some of the medical therapy used to fight prostate cancer in this article.

First let’s get this out of the way. This article is not intended as medical advice, nor should it be taken as medical advice. It is for informational purposes only. As always with a physical illness you should consult your personal physician right away. Please read on for more information.

In order for you to grasp the impact of the remarkable remission stats (5 years or longer) for prostate cancer against other organ cancers, take a look at these comparisons:

� Prostate Cancer - 98%
� Breast Cancer - 87%
� Esophagus -14%
� Lung and Bronchus - 15 %
� Pancreas - 4%
� Testis - 96%
� Urinary Bladder - 82%
� Liver - 7%
� Ovary - 53 %
* These stats may vary by a plus or minus factor depending on the latest studies.

Those types of cancer listed above are just a few of the many different types of organ cancers. But the remission factor for prostate cancer victims is dramatically higher than any of those not listed. These remission results are primarily because of early detection of the disease and the phenomenal prostate cancer treatment options of today.

Each of the treatments available today can be used during the varying stages of development of the cancer. However, there is one therapy that is used very rarely and this is Chemo Therapy.

Chemo is normally used as a last resort type of therapy for prostate cancer. When the other therapies or combination of therapies, such as removal of the prostate gland and hormonal treatment have failed, then chemo becomes the drug of choice for your doctor. However, before it is prescribed, in most cases, the cancer has masticated into other parts of the body including the bones.

Many times a radical prostatectomy (removal) with or without hormonal treatment will do the trick. You may also find, depending on the stage of development of your cancer, your doctor will discuss the option of using Cryotherapy.

Cryotherapy is a newer therapy and may be recommended if you cannot tolerate radiation, hormonal therapy or surgical removal of the prostate gland. The way this is done is by using a probe through the skin to target the tumors. Then the tumor or tumors are frozen. If you use this type of therapy your hospital stay will be shorter, there will be less pain and the recovery period will be shorter.

However, the long term results of this type of therapy are not known as of yet, because it is a newer form of therapy.

Incredibly the prostate cancer treatment options discussed in this article are only a few of the options available to you. You should discuss these options, as well as the others, with your medical team.

Now The Truth About Prostate Cancer Treatments

Posted on July 21st, 2010 in Cancer by admin

Were you aware that nearly 1 out of 6 men living in North America (US and Canada) will have to have some form of prostate cancer treatments during their lifetime? That statistic certainly should have caught your attention. Did it? If you happen to be the 1 out of 6 diagnosed with a prostate malignancy, you are fortunate to live in this day and time. You stand more than a 98% to 100% chance of living more than 5 years after treatment. It is the intent of this article to help educate you about some treatments for prostate cancer.

This article is not intended as medical advice, nor should it be taken as medical advice. It is for informational purposes only. As always with a physical illness you should consult your personal physician right away. Now you can read on for more information.

Although prostate cancer has an extremely high survival rate, compared to other types of cancer, it is still a very serious illness. When your general practitioner informs you of your illness, it is important for you and your GP to discuss it in full. In a great many cases your doctor will refer you to a specialist, such as an urologist or oncologist for further testing and treatment.

Once the results from the advanced testing have been obtained, your doctors will know; which of 1 of 5 stages of development your cancer is in. Depending on the stage of development the tumor is in, will determine the battle plan you and your physician will put together.

Stage One: Malignancy found within the prostate only

Stage Two: More advanced cancer but still contained within the prostate

Stage Three: More advanced and spread outside the prostate to surrounding tissue

Stage Five: Cancer has metastasized (spread) to other parts of body

Recurrent: Cancer has returned after treatments

As this particular form of cancer is a very slow growing type of cancer, there are several options; you and your health professional may elect to follow. Below are some of the options available to you depending on which stage your cancer is in.

Stage 1: Often referred to as localized, the physician may suggest the following treatments:
� Wait and see. (Closely monitored)
� Radiotherapy
� Radical prostatectomy (full removal of the prostate)
� Hormone therapy

Stage 2: More advanced but still localized within the prostate only:
� Watchful waiting (with increased monitoring activity)
� Radiotherapy (may or may not be with hormone therapy)
� Radical prostatectomy (perhaps hormone therapy or not)
� Hormone therapy

Stage 3: Cancer advanced outside the prostate to nearby tissue:
� External-beam radiotherapy (Hormone Therapy or not)
� Hormone Therapy
� Radical removal of prostate (possible hormone therapy or not)
� Increased monitoring by the doctors

Stage 5: Prostate cancer metastasized (spread through out body and bones):
� Hormone therapy
� External-beam radiotherapy (with or without hormone therapy)
� Very closely monitored
� Chemotherapy

Reoccurrence of Prostate Cancer:
� Close monitoring
� Possibly all of the above treatments

As you can see from the above there are a good number of options open to men with prostate cancer. It will be up to you and your doctor to determine which prostate cancer treatment or combination of treatment would be right for you.

How Prostate Cancer Information Can Benefit You

Posted on July 19th, 2010 in Cancer by admin

Prostate cancer information may well save your life or the life of your loved ones or friends. Information will give you power to help control your life.. Information about prostate cancer prevention, early warning signs, prognosis and treatment will help to give you peace of mind and hope for the future. This article will discuss some of these things about prostate cancer.

This article is not intended as medical advice, nor should it be taken as medical advice. It is for informational purposes only. As always with a physical illness you should consult your personal physician right away. Please read on!

One in six of all males within the United States and the borders of Canada will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their life. That statistic is alarming to you, right? But you can reduce these odds by taking steps to help you be among the five who are not diagnosed with the malignancy.

You will be happy to know that prevention is not actually as difficult as you might think. You should stay away from the proverbial sedate lifestyle. In other words don�t become a �couch potato�. By exercising from 30 minutes to an hour a day, you will produce the hormones and chemicals needed to keep your prostate healthy. Another quick and simple way to help you prevent the disease is eat as healthy as you can. However, if you haven�t led a healthy style there are early warning signs to alert you.

Some of the best prostate cancer information, which you can be introduced to, is the early warning signs that you may have a problem. One of the first signs you may notice is the increased frequency of needing to urinate. You may also find that when you do go you have a weaker steam and difficulty releasing it. And you may even experience a burning sensation when you�re urinating. Although these symptoms can be caused by other physical problems, you should contact your doctor for immediate testing to determine what the real cause is.

Believe it or not there is good news about having prostate cancer verses being told you have one of the other cancers. The majority of men diagnosed with a malignant prostate will receive an excellent prognosis about the disease. This disease has an extremely high healing percentage (98%) and many professionals believe it can be cured 100%. Again early diagnosis and prognosis will determine the prostate cancer treatment or treatments available to you.

Because your doctor knows that the tumor or tumors in your prostate are extremely slow growing, his first treatment may only involve waiting to see how the disease progresses. Months or even years may go by before the doctor moves you to a more aggressive treatment. There are several treatment options are combination of treatments which will benefit you.

In summary prostate cancer information does give you power. It is extremely important, for you, to be as knowledgeable about this disease as you can be.

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