Treating Prostate Cancer With Longer Treating Periods Is The Better Option

For treating prostate cancer, high density focused ultra sound techniques are often used

, where high density sound waves destroy cancer cells. The sound waves are made from an endorectal probe placed inside the patient's body. Chemotherapy, on the other hand, is a cancer treatment that kills the cancer cells or stops their cell division. Chemotherapy can be either systemic chemotherapy or regional chemotherapy. The former is injected into a vein and the latter is directly placed in the body cavity.

Radiation therapy while employed for treating prostate cancer directs high energy x-rays or other type of radiation to kill cancer cells or mitigates their growing. External radiation therapy is when an outside machine is used to send radiation and in internal radiation therapy, radioactive material is placed inside the body near the cancer.

Treating prostate cancer is of two distinct types - treatment of local disease, (localized) and treatment of distant disease (metasized). Surviving prostate cancer depends on various factors like the type of cancer, the presence or absence of metastasis and general family background.

The three standard therapies for men without metastized prostate cancer are watchful waiting, surgery and radiation therapy. Unfortunately, so far nobody has made a comparative study of all the three options in this connection, university of Florida researchers have evolved a gene therapy which employs a synthetic protein to stop cancer growth by inducing blood clotting, which cuts off a tumor's blood and nutrients supply'.

The researchers are also working out methods to deliver the protein directly to the sites of interest instead of through genes that later produce a protein. Other researchers are using nanoparticles to sense proteins and deliver drugs or radiate heat to destroy cancer cell when bombarded by radio waves.

Noscapine, a natural substance found in cough medicine is likely to prove useful in treating prostate cancer. No significant toxicity was also observed with noscapine. The study which has been successfully completed in mice will be conducted in humans and it is expected that there will be no side effects.

In treating prostate cancer, from naturopathy point of view, watchful waiting can be called a regular treatment since changes are implemented in patient's diet and supplementary herbs are prescribed. Patients will be allowed time to assess relationships. Likewise, during watchful waiting, to improve the chances of surviving prostate cancer regular digital rectal exams and PSA monitoring are conducted.

Treating prostate cancer in elderly patients is always a headache. But it has been observed that elderly patients' chances of surviving prostate cancer are greater if they are given an active cancer treatment in a study of approximately 50,000 elderly men with early prostate cancer, active treatment group lived for 13 years while the other group lived for only 10 more years.

by: Laura Kelsey

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