Treatment options for prostate cancer vary depending on stage of the disease. The stage of a cancer is an important factor in determining treatment options. When prostate cancer is diagnosed, tests are performed to determine whether or not the cancer is contained within the prostate or has spread to other parts of the body. This testing process, known as cancer staging, produces a set of results that help to indicate how advanced a particular cancer might be and the best course of action for prostate cancer treatment. .

Working with you and your doctor, our team will design a treatment plan tailored to your specific needs.

Prostate Cancer Treatment options include:

Surgery

• Nerve-sparing Prostatectomy – This delicate procedure involves the removal of all or part of the prostate with particular attention paid to preserving the nerves that control sexual function.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy can be used alone or in conjunction with another therapy to treat prostate cancer or alleviate pain.

• External Beam Radiation Therapy – Radiation is focused on the prostate gland, killing cancer cells. The procedure is much like getting an X-ray, but the radiation exposure is longer.
• 3DCRT – Three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy, or 3DCRT, uses modern computer imaging to ensure accurate treatment of tumors, minimizing the radiation dose delivered to surrounding normal tissues. 3DCRT is used to treat tumors that in the past might have been considered too close to vital organs for radiation therapy.
• IMRT – Intensity-modulated radiation therapy, or IMRT, is a more advanced version of 3DCRT that delivers precise radiation doses to a tumor or specific areas within the tumor. The radiation dose is designed to conform to the three-dimensional shape of the tumor by modulating (controlling) the intensity of the radiation beam so that it focuses a higher dose on the tumor while minimizing exposure to surrounding normal tissues. This means higher radiation doses can be used with fewer side effects than with conventional radiotherapy. In certain cases IMRT is more appropriate than 3DCRT.
• Brachytherapy – This minimally invasive procedure involves the implantation of tiny radioactive pellets (called “seeds”) into the prostate, designed to destroy cancer cells from the inside out. Also known as internal radiation therapy, brachytherapy allows a physician to use a higher total dose of radiation to treat a smaller area and in less time than is possible with external radiation treatment.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is sometimes recommended for prostate cancer treatment to slow the progress of cancer if it has spread (metastasized) from the prostate to other parts of the body.

At the Urology Center, in addition to utilizing traditional chemotherapy, we provide patients with the opportunity to access new chemotherapy protocols alone or in combination with standard therapy. We can often offer combinations of chemotherapy with surgery and radiation therapy. We are also using chemotherapy immediately following surgery for locally advanced prostate cancer.

Hormone Therapy

• Testosterone-blocking drugs – This approach uses medications designed to block the actions that testosterone has on the prostate cells. While it cannot cure prostate cancer, it may slow the cancer's growth and reduce the size of the tumor(s).
• Orchiectomy – Orchiectomy involves the surgical removal of the testes, which produce about 95 percent of the body’s testosterone. This approach is also designed to shrink a prostate tumor by starving it of the hormone testosterone.