All About Prostate Cancer

When a patient is first diagnosed with prostate cancer and has had all the relevant tests to check the extent of the disease he will normally have an appointment with his doctor to discuss what is best. Prostate cancer treatment will depend on the extent of the cancer and on the intent of the treatment. For example early prostate cancers will be treated with surgery, radiotherapy or watchful waiting. Prostate cancer surgery is a definite possibility for many men in the early stages of the disease and so the subject should be discussed with the doctor. Late prostate cancers will be treated with hormone therapy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy or a mixture of all 3. Often patients will be given a choice of treatments by the doctor and the pros and cons of each option explained. There is no best cancer of prostate treatment because the treatment you receive will depend on the extent of your cancer.

PROSTATE CANCER RADIOTHERAPY (COMMONLY CALLED PROSTATE CANCER RADIATION TREATMENT)
Many men undergo radiotherapy as it is often regarded as the best prostate cancer treatment. This may be with the aim to cure the cancer or to shrink and control it depending on the stage. Often hormone treatment is given prior to radiation treatment to help reduce the size of the cancer and improve the rate of cure. Small cancers don’t need this hormone pre-treatment.

TYPES OF PROSTATE CANCER RADIOTHERAPY
Radiotherapy is the treatment for cancer of the prostate with radiation. This is most often as X-rays which pass through the body and kill the cancer cells in its path known as “external beam radiotherapy”. The alternative way to treat the prostate is from within the body using small radioactive sources known as “brachytherapy”. Brachytherapy is only suitable for a small proportion of men with early prostate cancer and with a suitable sized prostate gland. It has the advantage of slightly fewer side effects during the treatment but would not be so effective at curing more bulky prostate cancers.

EXTERNAL BEAM RADIOTHERAPY FOR PROSTATE CANCER
The majority of men with cancer of the prostate will have this type of radiation treatment. It is given by a machine called a Linear Accelerator. This makes high energy X-rays which are good at killing cancer cells. Linear accelerators are worked by radiographers who will also help you get into the right position for your treatment and give you advice during your treatment.
For the treatment the patient has to lie on a thin couch, rather like those used in the CT or MRI scanners. The machine then moves around the patient to deliver X-rays from several different angles, all pointing towards the prostate gland. Each treatment takes approximately 10 minutes to give, and the full dose of treatment is spread out to be given every day over a few weeks. This helps to give a big enough dose to the prostate to kill the cancer whilst reducing the side effects of treatment.

To make sure you are in the correct position and the prostate is being treated properly either an X-ray picture or more usually an extra CT scan will be taken before treatment starts to locate the prostate gland accurately. At this time you will also be given several tattoos (tiny dots on the skin) so that when you lie on the couch for each treatment the radiographers can make sure you are lined up properly. This helps to make sure the prostate gland is treated fully and to reduce side effects.

Patients are not able to feel X-rays or even be aware that the treatment machine is on. However as patients go through the weeks of treatment there are a number of common side effects that can be expected. Most of these are short term side effects which slowly build up through the treatment, are worst at or just after the end of treatment and then improve quite quickly (within a few weeks). There are also some long-term or late side effects which can occur.

Here we go again folks. Researchers are now suggesting that lycopene, abundantly found in tomatoes, can now lower the risk of getting prostate cancer. These modern studies on prostate cancer have concluded that tomato-based products may greatly help in protecting men from prostate cancer.

The study shows that the more tomatoes in a persons diet, the more the possibility that he will not develop prostate cancer in his lifetime. A natural prostate remedy for optimal health should also include a blend of vitamins and minerals supplements for good prostate health.

The next question I am sure you will ask is - why are tomatoes this important in preventing prostate cancer. Well, it has been discovered that the lycopene found in tomatoes is an antioxidant which in turn is a kind of chemical agent which helps to prevent or reverse the cellular process of oxidation.

This works on preventing prostate cancer because it has been proven that too much cellular oxidation can be dangerous to one’s health. This is mainly because oxidation produces free radicals, which increase one’s chances of developing cancer tissues. So, by its antioxidant nature, lycopene (and ultimately tomatoes) help to destroy the free radicals and thereby prevent prostate cancer and other forms of cancer for that matter.

Other ways is to look for food and vitamins that contain lots of antioxidant like Vitamin E. Such vitamins will go a long way in helping you to kill the free radicals in your body.

REALITY CHECK!

Well, in theory, this whole eating tomatoes to keep prostate cancer at bay sounds like a good idea, think back on all the other ideas that have been proven false.

Coffee Causes Cancer
Coffee Doesn’t Cause Cancer
Don’t Eat Eggs They Raise Your Cholesterol
It’s Okay to Have a Couple Drinks a Week
Oatmeal Lowers Your Cholesterol
Oatmeal Doesn’t Lower Your Cholesterol

We’ve heard for years that getting a suntan substantially raises the risk of skin cancer, and we should work to stay out of the sun. Recent research however suggests that at least some sun exposure can actually be beneficial to our overall health and well-being.

The problem is that many researchers are now focused not on good science but on getting media attention. This desire for attention results in theory’s being published and reported to the general public without adequate research or proof. The whole idea of eating more tomato-based products to increase your lycopene could probably be the result of this media attention drive.

Still, on the possible chance that this may be at least somewhat beneficial and the fact that it won’t harm you, it doesn’t hurt to add another serving or so of tomato products to your diet. So go ahead and squeeze that ketchup onto your plate… at least for now, it’s good for you.

Doctors are telling patients to stop taking Vitamin E and Selenium for the prevention of prostate cancer because a new study shows they don’t actually work. Dr. Jon Lapook reports.

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If you’ve been told that you have prostate cancer, then you’ve probably had The Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) Test, been physically checked and probably have already had a biopsy performed. Once all this has established your condition, your cancer is then assigned a score.

These scores determine what stage your cancer has progressed. During the biopsy, the lab will assign what’s called a Gleason score helps the doctor in determining what stage your prostate cancer is currently in. The appropriateness of any treatment is dependant on the advancement of your prostate cancer. Staging and the Gleason score will help determine which treatment program is right for you.

While a prostate cancer is considered serious, don’t forget that it’s typically very slow growing. If your cancer has progressed to the stage where intervention is necessary, a procedure known as Brachytherapy may be in order.

Simply put, radioactive material is sealed in small seeds or pellets that are placed directly around a prostate tumor. It is also called an internal radiation or implant radiation. There’s no question that this treatment program is effective and does a good job in controlling prostate cancer

Internal radiotherapy or Brachytherapy is usually the recommended prostate cancer treatment when the cancer has dangerously spread beyond the prostate gland of victims. The major benefit of this radiation treatment strategy is that it will help to spare healthy nearby tissues. This in turn will limit the side effects experienced.

This type of treatment plan is not available in all hospitals. Most larger towns and cities however have nuclear medicine options available. Given the high success rate of this prostate cancer treatment, it’s well worth your time to locate health resources that specialize in this type of program

Remember that just because you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, it’s not a death sentence. Many people with prostate cancer have followed their doctors advice and went with a treatment known simply as watchful waiting. As the name implies, watchful waiting is a situation where no direct action is taken to treat the prostate cancer. The reason for this is to maintain the quality of life for as long as possible. Direct intervention plans such as Brachytherapy are not without their risks and side effects.

Watchful waiting may be an appropriate course of action for your prostate cancer depending on your age and other factors. Only you and your doctor can determine what treatment program is right for you.