What Are Some Of The Best Treatments For Prostate Cancer?
I still remember hearing hushed voices as I entered the room. Dad had prostate cancer and it was time for us to be told. After invasive surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and hormone treatment, my father survived another ten years before passing away. Forty five years on the feelings of helplessness remain.
Forty five years later there still is no cure, though medical advancements have leveled the playing field considerably. Statistics demonstrate just how important the fight against cancer is.
In 2003 alone, there were 220,000 new cases discovered and a total of 29,000 prostate cancer fatalities. Overall statistics reveal that risk factors increase with age, which explains why 75 percent of new prostate detections will be in men 65 years and older. If you have a family history of prostate cancer, it is up to ten percent more likely that you will suffer from prostate cancer.
Despite the grim statistical data, there are three major offensives being waged against this deadly disease in the forms of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. There are many websites and materials available to learn the foods, vitamins, and anti-oxidants that help fight cancer. Make a decision to be proactive.
Prostate cancer no longer lives in the shadows of ignorance, fear, and denial that once enslaved men. Men over the age of fifty should receive yearly screenings for prostate cancer. Digital rectal exams are still used for detection, in addition to the standard list of symptoms which include frequent and painful urination, blood in the urine, and slow or labored urine flow.
The level of prostate specific antigens normally present in blood is somewhere between 0-4. When the PSA level is above the normal range or elevates significantly between check ups, it indicates a greater likelihood of cancer. Remember that males who are of African descent or who have a family history of prostate cancer are more likely to get it, so it is important for these populations to be screened.
Opinions are divided as to what the best course of treatment for prostate cancer patients is. Whereas prostate removal and chemotherapy have been the traditional approach to cancer treatment, medical technology now gives patients options that are more effective while causeing less pain and discomfort.
External Beam therapy delivers a beam of high energy x-rays directly to the tumor. This treatment is advantageous because it is so highly targeted, meaning that the tumor is exposed to the bulk of the radiation while the rest of the body is unharmed.
Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy uses computer controlled linear accelerators to deliver an even more intense and precise beam of radiation to the tumor. The IRMT can track any slight changes in the location of the prostate gland, and can adjust the beam accordingly.
The major advantage in utilizing these highly intense and accurate radiation beams is the fact that surrounding tissue is left unscathed and is not exposed to the radiation. The new radiation treatments offer new hope for a normal recovery, without all of the nasty side effects that used to accompany prostate cancer treatments.
Oakwood Cancer Center, located in Mechanicsburg, PA, provides residents state-of-the-art Mechanicsburg PA Cancer Treatment technology and know-how. The clinic specializes in breast cancer treatment and gamma knife cancer surgery and serves Harrisburg and Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania.
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