Many prostate cancer treatments are available. Your options, however, will depend on your general health and the type and stage of your cancer.

If you’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer and you need treatment, you might have a lot to think about. It is normal to feel confused and worried. But, consulting your doctor and learning about your treatment options can help you feel more at ease.

Prostate cancer treatment options include:

• Robotic Prostatectomy/Robotic Surgery
• Radiation Therapy
• Cryotherapy
• Chemotherapy

Robotic Prostatectomy/Robotic Surgery

As its name suggests, robotic surgery is a treatment option that uses a robotic surgical platform to perform minimally invasive surgery. In treating prostate cancer, it is used to remove the entire prostate gland and some of the tissues around it.

During robotic prostatectomy/surgery, you will be put under general anaesthesia. The surgeon then moves the robotic arms to operate through several small incisions in your abdomen. This robotic system provides the surgeon with more manoeuvrability and allows him or her to remove the prostate and surrounding tissues with great precision.

Moreover, the surgeon uses a three-dimensional scope during a robotic prostatectomy to have a magnified view of the blood vessels and nerves surrounding the prostate gland. This allows optimal preservation of these delicate and essential structures.  

Among the advantages of this treatment option are less pain, less blood loss, faster recovery time, and shorter hospital stays. However, it also has a few potential risks, such as adjacent tissue damage, bleeding, and infection at the surgical site.

Radiation Therapy

If you have low-grade prostate cancer, your doctor may recommend radiation therapy as your first treatment. This treatment uses high-energy particles to destroy cancer cells.

Radiation therapy is generally used to shrink early-stage cancer, stop cancer from recurring, and treat symptoms caused by advanced cancer. It can be given through external radiation, internal radiation, and systemic radiation. And the people behind it usually include a radiation oncologist, radiation physicist, dosimetrist, radiation therapist, and radiation therapy nurse.

Cryotherapy

Another way of killing cancer cells is through cryotherapy. This treatment option uses very cold temperatures to freeze and destroy prostate cancer cells. It is likewise used if cancer has come back following radiation therapy.

Similar to robotic prostatectomy, patients undergoing cryotherapy experience less blood loss, less pain, and a shorter recovery period.

Chemotherapy

If your prostate cancer has already spread outside your prostate gland, your doctor may advise you to undergo chemotherapy. It is likewise resorted to when hormone therapy didn’t work.

You’ll be asked to take chemo drugs either as an infusion or as pills. Some of these drugs used to treat prostate cancer are Cabazitaxel, Docetaxel, Estramustine, and Mitoxantrone.

While chemotherapy works against cancer cells, it can affect other cells in the body which may lead to the following common side effects:

• Appetite loss
• Bleeding
• Diarrhoea
• Easy bruising
• Fatigue
• Hair loss
• Mouth sores
• Nausea
• Vomiting

Conclusion

Before deciding on your treatment – whether robotic prostatectomy, radiation therapy, cryotherapy or chemotherapy – be sure that you have taken your time in choosing the right option for you.