There are a number of options when it comes to prostate cancer treatment, but which option is used will depend on a number of different factors including the stage and grade of the cancer as well as the age, health, and personal preferences of the men who suffer from it. Because prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men and the leading cause of cancer related deaths among men it is important that all men are regularly screened for it and are aware of the treatment options available to them.

Cancer occurs when cells of the prostate mutate and begin to multiply out of control. This can cause the prostate to enlarge, resulting in symptoms such as difficulty in urinating, frequent urination, and blood in the urine. Cancerous tumors can also metastasize and spread to other parts of the body through the circulatory system or lymph system where they can grow secondary tumors. Prostate cancer is usually staged according to the system known as TNM (tumor, node, metastasis), in which the cancer is characterized by its extent within the prostate gland itself (tumor or T stage), whether the lymph nodes in the region are involved with cancer (node or N stage), and whether the cancer has metastasized to other parts of the body (metastasis or M stage).

Treatment for prostate cancer may involve watchful waiting, surgery, radiation therapy, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU), chemotherapy, cryosurgery, hormonal therapy, or some combination of these treatments. For tumors that are still inside the prostate, radiation therapy (using x-rays that kill the cancer cells) and a surgery called radical prostatectomy are common treatment options. There are two forms of radiation therapy that can be used; either by an external beam or interstitial implants known as seed therapy. There is usually more discomfort after this treatment and many men feel very tired at the end of the treatment period. About 15% to 30% of men who have radiation therapy have urinary burning, urinary bleeding, frequent urination, rectal bleeding, rectal discomfort or diarrhea during or shortly after the treatment.

"Watchful waiting" is also a treatment option. In this approach, no treatment is given until the tumor gets bigger. This is more normal with elderly men whom may not tolerate traditional treatments.

If the cancer has spread into the tissue surrounding the prostate gland treatment with hormone therapy is normally called for. This treatment helps to prevent the cancer from spreading any further and is standard treatment to prevent secondary tumors or cell metastasis.

Choosing a treatment for prostate cancer is not easy and will depend on a number of factors such as your age and whether the cancer has spread and if so, how far. After treatment for prostate cancer, your doctor will want to watch you carefully, checking to see if your cancer recurs or spreads further.

Selecting What Is Best
Being diagnosed with prostate cancer nowadays is by no means a death sentence however it is imperative that you get treatment without delay. There are a number of prostate cancer treatment options available and the best one for you will depend on your individual case. You need to speak with your oncologist and decide what you want to achieve from your prostate cancer treatment so that the right course of treatment can be selected for you.

You might want to consider taking a family member with you to your consultation so that they can ask any questions that you might forget because of the stress associated with the situation.

Ask your oncologist if he/she has any leaflets about the various prostate cancer treatments because as you go back over your conversation at a later date you will undoubtedly forget important aspects that require consideration. Also ask your oncologist to explain the different prostate cancer treatment options to you in easy terms. Medical jargon can be overwhelming and confusing to a stressed mind so try to make things as easy as possible.

Simply put there are three major forms of prostate cancer treatment; surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Hormone therapy is also often used as a complimentary therapy and any combination of the three main treatments can be used together or in conjunction with hormone therapy. The type of prostate cancer treatment that you receive will depend to a large extent on the cancer itself and how far it has progressed.

When the initial cancer spreads to the surrounding tissues and then to other sites in the body, the type of prostate cancer treatment used will become more palliative than curative i.e. the treatment will slow down the growth of the cancer and help control the side effects rather than actually curing the disease.

In addition factors such as your age, general health and what you want to achieve from the treatment will also be taken into consideration. The elderly may suffer from surgery much more than they would suffer with prostate cancer and so they may choose to do nothing except slow down the growth and spread of the disease. Younger men however may want to get rid of the cancer entirely and so opt for surgery and then probably radiation therapy to kill any remaining cancerous cells.

There are a lot of things to consider when you choose your form of prostate cancer treatment and the decision should not be rushed. Prostate cancer is one of the slow growing cancers and so a few weeks of deliberation will, in most cases, have no major effect on the size of your cancer or the symptoms experienced.

The prostate is a gland. It helps make semen, the fluid that contains sperm. The prostate surrounds the tube that carries urine away from the bladder and out of the body. A young man's prostate is about the size of a walnut. It slowly grows larger with age. If it gets too large, it can cause problems. The older men get, the more likely they are to have prostate trouble.

Prostate cancer is an abnormal, uncontrolled growth of cells that results in the formation of a tumor in the prostate gland. Prostate, the walnut sized gland, is a part of the reproductive system which lies deep in the pelvis. It is located in front of the rectum and underneath the urinary bladder and surrounds the urethra, (the urine tube running from the bladder, through the prostate and the penis). It contains gland cells that produce some of the seminal fluid, which protects and nourishes sperm cells in semen and supports the ejaculatory ducts, or sperm tubes. The prostate continues to grow till a man reaches adulthood and is maintained after it reaches normal size as long as male hormones are produced.

The growth of prostate cells and the way the prostate gland works is dependent on the male sex hormone, testosterone, which is produced in the testicles.

Prostate cancer develops most frequently in men over fifty. This cancer can occur only in men, as the prostate is exclusively of the male reproductive tract. It is the most common type of cancer in men in the United States, where it is responsible for more male deaths than any other cancer, except lung cancer. However, many men who develop prostate cancer never have symptoms, undergo no therapy, and eventually die of other causes. Many factors, including genetics and diet, have been implicated in the development of prostate cancer.

NHL (Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma) is yet another common form of cancer. This refers to a the growth of a large group of cancers that affect the immunity system. The symptoms of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma are those of fever and weight loss, a sure sign that the immunity system has been affected. This is a cancer that can affect any age group, and its treatment is completely dependent on the stage of detection of the cancer.

Prostate cancer usually grows slowly and initially remains confined to the prostate gland, where it may not cause serious harm. While some types of prostate cancer grow slowly and may need minimal or no treatment, other types are aggressive and can spread quickly. If prostate cancer is detected early — when it's still confined to the prostate gland — you have a better chance of successful treatment.

Prostate cancer is found mainly in older men. As men age, the prostate may get bigger and block the urethra or bladder. This may cause difficulty in urination or can interfere with sexual function. The condition is called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and although it is not cancer, surgery may be needed to correct it. The symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia or of other problems in the prostate may be similar to symptoms of prostate cancer.

Radical prostatectomy is a surgery to remove the whole prostate gland and the nearby lymph nodes.

Prostate Cancer Treatments
It has been said that "most men die with prostate cancer, not of it". Autopsy studies have shown that a high proportion of men who have died in other ways, have prostate cancer when the prostate is examined under a microscope. Thus screening may tend to detect cancers that would not have killed the patient or even been detected prior to death from other causes.An important way to take an active role in making decisions about supporting your prostate cancer treatment is to be as informed as possible. Learn all you want to know about prevention, treatment and living with prostate cancer. Although early-stage prostate cancer typically isn't painful, once it's spread to bones it can be.

Deciding the best prostate cancer treatment is a challenge. Prostatectomy is the removal of the prostate by surgical incisions in abdomen or perineum, or small incisions and laparoscope use. Radical prostatectomy is the removal of the entire prostate gland and possibly the seminal vesicles and surrounding nerves and veins. Although technically well done, radiation therapy may not be the answer or at least the whole answer to prostate cancer treatment and survival.

All prostate cancer treatments affect sexual potency. Complications from prostate cancer are related to both the disease and its treatment. Many men may feel depressed after a diagnosis of prostate cancer or after trying to cope with the side effects of treatment.

Prostate Cancer Treatment
Treatment options include radiation therapy (either through an external beam or radioactive seed implants), surgery, hormone therapy and watchful waiting. Selecting the right treatment for prostate cancer depends on many factors, including your husband's overall health, his age, the aggressiveness of his prostate cancer, and how he feels about the potential side effects. One of the biggest fears of many men who have prostate cancer is that treatment may leave them incontinent or unable to maintain an erection firm enough for sex (erectile dysfunction).

Male Urinary Incontinence
Male incontinence is relatively unusual, and is always associated with some sort of bladder or prostate disease. Yes, more than 330,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year, and many will require prostate surgery, the leading cause of incontinence in men. Stress incontinence may develop when a man's prostate gland is removed and there has been dysfunction of or damage to the nerves or the sphincter, resulting in inadequate support for the lower bladder (bladder neck). When a radical prostatectomy is performed to remove a cancerous prostate, the possibility of incontinence is greater.

Muscle-strengthening Exercises
The ability to fill and store urine properly requires a functional sphincter (the circular muscles around the opening of the bladder) and a stable, expandable bladder wall muscle (detrusor). Stress incontinence is a bladder storage problem in which the strength of the muscles (urethral sphincter) that help control urination is reduced. Exercises to strengthen the muscles which support your bladder neck (with or without the help of devices like electrical stimulation, biofeedback, or exercise cones) may be prescribed if your symptoms point to stress urinary incontinence. Muscle-strengthening exercises (called Kegel exercises or pelvic floor exercises) can be very helpful in treating bowel incontinence. These are performed by contracting the large muscles that make up the pelvic floor. When the pelvic muscles are contracted they send a message to the bladder muscle to relax.

Biofeedback And Electrical Stimulation
Biofeedback and electrical stimulation may be helpful for those who have trouble doing pelvic muscle training exercises. Biofeedback uses electrodes placed on the pelvic floor muscles, giving you feedback about when they are contracted and when they are not. Biofeedback and electrical stimulation will no longer be necessary once you have identified the pelvic floor muscles and mastered the exercises on your own.

Medications
Medications that may be prescribed include drugs that relax the bladder, increase bladder muscle tone, or strengthen the sphincter. Other medications such as diuretics, muscle relaxants, and blood pressure medication can also affect bladder function. Other medications, including flurbiprofen, capsaicin and botulinum toxin, are sometimes prescribed to relax the bladder muscles or to tighten the urethral sphincter. One of these drugs, duloxetine, differs from present medications in targeting the central nervous system's control of the urge to urinate rather than the smooth muscle of the bladder itself.