Features of the surgery and radiation therapy consequences
There are certain difficulties in the follow-up, while after surgical removal of prostate cancer it is less burdensome and the interpretation of analyzes is simple. Irradiation does not allow destruction of all prostate tissue that produces PSA, which significantly complicates a practical assessment of the achieved result and interpretation of examination data at further observation.
The difference is also observed in the consequences of treatment, as after irradiation, the complications will become more pronounced over time, while after surgery, the complications are most pronounced initially and gradually decrease, and man will sooner or later learn to coexist with the inevitable chronic consequences.
Drug therapy of cancer prostate
As the main drug therapy for advanced and metastatic prostate cancer, hormonal drugs are used, or rather, anti-hormonal ones that block production of own testosterone or its access to tumor cells. Testosterone and other androgens are used by malignant cells for their own reproduction and growth.
The level of testosterone can be drastically and irrevocably reduced only by removal of the testicles called bilateral orchectomy, and temporarily stopped by introduction of a special substance, which is called chemical castration. The drug representing an analogue of the natural gonadotropin-releasing hormone suppresses the production of androgens only for the duration of treatment, and long-lasting forms intended for many months of action are already widely available.
The third method of hormonal effect is regular intake of antiandrogens that block testosterone from entering the affected cell. Several drugs of equal efficacy and diverse toxicity have been developed. Even with a good therapeutic result, adverse reactions are inevitable, but their severity and spectrum are very individual.
In the absence of a positive tumor reaction to hormone drugs, chemotherapy is applied, though its possibilities are not so good.
Specialists of the clinic masterly apply all known methods of prostate cancer treatment. They will select the best method at any stage, and suggest a program to minimize adverse effects and speed up recovery.
This text is based on the materials of NCCN (National Cancer Comprehensive Network).
Reference list:
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- Borshch v. Yu., Varenpov G.I., Zakhmatov Yu. M. et al. Transurethral resection for prostate cancer (In Russian) // Materials of the Plenum of the Board of the Russian Society of Urology. Мoscow, 1999, pp. 212–214.
- Bukharkin B.v. , Podregulskiy К. E. Prostate cancer (In Russian) // Journal of Clinical Oncology, 1999, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 10–13.
- Goldobenko G.v. Radiation therapy for patients with prostate cancer (In Russian).
- Kushlinskiy N.Е., Solovyev Yu. N., Trapeznikova М. F. Prostate cancer (In Russian) // RAMS Publ., 2002.