Treatment Options for Prostate Cancer
When it comes to treating prostate cancer, doctors and patients have a wide range of treatment options. In general, ideal treatment will vary from patient to patient, depending on his age, the stage of his cancer and whether or not the cancer has metastasized or spread.
Although proton therapy for prostate cancer is one of the newest treatment options, it is quickly becoming a popular choice due to its many advantages over traditional forms of treatment. And, regardless of individual circumstances, proton therapy for prostate cancer presents the lowest risks, the best results and the fastest possible recovery times.
Prostate Cancer Treatment Outcomes:
| Proton Therapy | Radiation1 External Beam Radiation | Surgery2 | Chemotherapy3 | Chemotherapy & Surgery4 as a combined treatment | |
| Non-Invasive | Y | Y | N | Y | N |
| Outpatient | Y | Y5 | N | Y | N |
| Typical Recovery Time | 0 Days | 0 to 15 Days | 3 to 7 Days | 7 Days to 6 Months6 | Over 7 Days7 |
| Risk of Impotency | Low | Moderate | Moderate to High8 | Moderate | Moderate to High |
| Risk of Incontinence | Low | Moderate | Moderate9 | Moderate | Moderate |
| Risk of Healthy Tissue Damage | Low | Moderate10 | Moderate | High | High |
| Risk of Secondary Cancer | Extremely Low | Low | Low | High11 | High12 |
| Risk of Having to Repeat Treatment | Low | Low to Moderate13 | Low | High14 | High15 |
To see if proton therapy is the right prostate cancer treatment for you, request a consultation with one of our physicians today!
1 All facts in "Radiation" Column obtained from "The Urology Channel" (updated January 5, 2008):
http://www.urologychannel.com/prostatecancer/treatment-radiation.shtml. From MayoClinic (updated July 7, 2007): http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/radiation-therapy/CA00031.
2 All facts in "Surgery" Column obtained from "The Urology Channel" (updated January 25, 2008):
http://www.urologychannel.com/prostatecancer/treatment-surg.shtml.
3 All facts in "Chemotherapy" column obtained from WebMD (updated December 1, 2006):
http://www.webmd.com/prostate-cancer/guide/prostate-cancer-chemotherapy.
4 All facts in "Surgery and Chemotherapy" column derived from each of the above three Web sites.
5 Outpatient radiation is generally performed 5 days/wk over a 6 to 10 week period.
6 Recovery time for chemotherapy depends on the cocktail of drugs a patient takes. In general, patients start recovering after they stop chemo treatments. Within 6 months of terminating chemotherapy, most patients will have recovered from the side effects of this prostate cancer treatment option.
7 While patients will need at least a week to recover from surgery, recovering from chemotherapy will only take place once patients have finished their chemo. Consequently, recovering from the combination treatment can take up to 6 months after chemo has been terminated, which will vary from case to case.
8 About 35 to 60 percent of men lose their ability to have an erection following prostate cancer surgery.
9 Although incontinence is extremely common following prostate cancer surgery, most men will eventually redevelop urinary control.
10 While radiation does damage healthy cells, these cells grow more slowly than malignant cells and, therefore, are better able to repair themselves following potential damage from radiation.
11 Chemotherapy destroys both healthy and cancerous cells, putting patients who use this treatment option at a high risk of developing secondary cancers. For this reason, chemo is usually only used to treat late stages of prostate cancer.
12 Since chemo is usually only administered in cases of late stage prostate cancer, and since chemo destroys healthy tissues, it's extremely likely that this combination treatment will result in secondary cancers.
13 The later the stage of prostate cancer, the more likely radiation treatment will need to be repeated.
14 Since chemotherapy can cause secondary cancers, patients may need to repeat this treatment option to kill cancerous cells that have developed in other parts of the body.
15 With a high risk of secondary cancers, patients will likely need further surgeries and chemo to treat these subsequent malignancies.