| Most cancers are treated medically with surgery, | | | | trip to a treatment facility, though. |
| chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Currently, there | | | | Side effects of radiation treatment for prostate |
| isn't a good chemotherapy option for prostate cancer | | | | cancer include incontinence, impotence and fatigue. |
| in the early stages, which leaves surgery or radiation | | | | Not everyone experiences these side effects. |
| treatment for prostate cancer. | | | | The other type of radiation treatment for prostate |
| If the surgeon gets the entire tumor, surgery is a | | | | cancer is seed therapy, or brachytherapy. Small |
| 100% cure. It does require a hospital stay and | | | | seeds of radioactive iodine or palladium are placed |
| wearing a catheter for a while. There are risks with | | | | inside the prostate gland, where they emit radiation |
| any surgery, and one risk with prostate surgery is | | | | that kills the tumor cells. The radiation in each implant |
| impotence | | | | lasts about two years, which is long enough to kill the |
| There are two types of radiation treatment for | | | | cancer cells. |
| prostate cancer: seed therapy and external beam | | | | Seed therapy has about the same cure rate and side |
| radiation therapy. Radiation therapy works by killing | | | | effects as external radiation treatment for prostate |
| the cancer cells. The goal is to kill all the cancer cells, | | | | cancer. Seed therapy is only used for tumors that |
| but not any healthy cells. | | | | have not metastasized outside the prostate. The |
| The first type of radiation treatment for prostate | | | | initial seed implantation causes some discomfort, but |
| cancer is external radiation treatment. Usually, the | | | | the patient can usually return to his usual routine in a |
| man receives five treatments a week for seven | | | | day or two. |
| weeks. If the cancer has spread, radiation can be | | | | Radiation treatment for prostate cancer is successful |
| aimed at those areas, too. External radiation is | | | | when the cancer is diagnosed early. Many men prefer |
| painless, doesn't require any anesthesia and only | | | | it to surgery because it is less invasive. |
| takes a few minutes each time. It does mean a daily | | | | |