What You Should Know About Treating Prostate Cancer-Treating Prostate Cancer in India

Knowing the various treatments for prostate cancer available and what the risks associated with each are is the first step in being informed about what will be one of the most important decisions of your life. The potential side effects of some of the treatments are too life altering to leave this decision to chance.

Have a discussion with your doctor. Ask questions about any side effects you need to be aware of. While your treatment options become less viable if your cancer has progressed beyond your prostate gland, it is important to be aware of what to expect after the treatment has been completed.

Here are some of the options open to you.

Surgery

Surgical options available are as follows.

A complete prostatectomy where your entire prostate gland is removed     A lymph node dissection where only the nodes surrounding the urethra are removed     A transurethral resection is done in which small pieces of your prostate are removed

Each of the above procedures requires a hospital stay and you would be anesthetized and put under. They are effective in most cases although cancers have been known to return weeks or months afterward. As well, side effects can include urinary incontinence, impotence and infertility.

Radiotherapy

There are 2 common approaches to radiation therapy in treating prostate cancer, external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy.

External beam radiotherapy is a procedure where a high energy radioactive source is used to project a beam at your prostate from a short distance outside your pelvic area. There is no anesthesia required and it is done on an out-patient basis. It is typically done on 5 consecutive days over a period of about 5 to 7 weeks.

Brachytherapy is the usage of about 100 to 150 small radioactive pellets or seeds. They are placed directly into your prostate with a syringe a few at a time; it usually takes up to 40 injections to implant them all. This procedure is painful and requires a general anesthetic.

These two procedures use radioactivity to burn away cancerous cells. Side effects include impotence, inflammation of the bladder and rectum and cancers have been known to return.

Chemotherapy

Drugs known to be toxic to cancerous cells are introduced to your body. It is used to slow cancerous growths and relieve pain. It is not a cure but it can be used to help patients where cures through other means are not possible.

High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU)

HIFU is a procedure that uses sound waves to destroy cancerous cells. A focused ultrasound beam is aimed only at the regions of the prostate that are diseased with cancer. The cells targeted are destroyed using heat. Surrounding tissue is not affected by the beam and remains undamaged.

The entire prostate can be exposed to the ultrasound beam in about three hours. The procedure is done quickly and is effective in eradicating prostate cancer in over 90% of patients treated. Side effects are minimal resulting in urinary incontinence in only 5% of patients. Only 8% suffered urethral blockage and about 40% suffered sexual impotence. Impotence drops to 20% in patients whose cancer does not affect the prostate nerve.

These reasons alone make HIFU the choice you should make when thinking about prostate cancer treatment options.

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Radical Prostatectomy Surgery in India

A radical prostatectomy is a common operation for treating prostate cancer. It used to be called total prostatectomy. This means using surgery to remove all of the prostate gland through a cut in your abdomen or the area between the testicles and the back passage (perineum). The aim of this type of surgery is to cure the cancer. Your surgeon may suggest radical prostatectomy if

·     Your cancer has not spread outside your prostate

·     You are younger, rather than older, and have a high grade tumour

How radical prostatectomy is done

A radical prostatectomy is carried out by specialist surgeons. They take out the whole prostate gland with the aim of getting rid of all the cancer. The surgeon makes a cut in the abdomen (retropubic) or between the testicles and the back passage (perineal). This operation is called open prostatectomy. As well as the prostate gland, the surgeon also removes the surrounding tissues and the tubes that carry semen (seminal vesicles). They then close the wound.

Laparoscopic prostatectomy (keyhole surgery)

Often, a radical prostatectomy is done using keyhole (laparoscopic) surgery. The surgeon uses a tube with a light and eyepiece to look inside the body. They fill the abdomen with carbon dioxide gas so they can see the prostate clearly. A tiny video camera gives a magnified view of the prostate gland on a video screen. The surgeon cuts away the prostate gland from the surrounding tissues and puts it in a small bag before removing it through one of the cuts in the abdomen. The main difference with this surgery is that you won't have a big wound in your abdomen afterwards. Instead you have several small cuts.

 laparoscopic surgery is as good at treating prostate cancer as open surgery. Men also lose less blood, have less pain, and spend less time in hospital. Most men also recover and go back to normal activities more quickly than with open radical prostatectomy surgery. Two of the most common side effects of prostatectomy are problems with control over when to pass urine (urinary incontinence) and inability to have an erection (impotence). There doesn’t seem to be any difference in the number of men who have these side effects after open prostatectomy or after laparoscopic prostatectomy.

What are the Benefits and Risks of Radical prostatectomy?

If you're young and in good health, the short-term risks of this surgery are low. The hospital stay is usually 2 to 3 days, with the catheter left in place for 2 to 3 weeks. You're usually able to go back to work in about 1 month. You shouldn't have severe pain with this surgery. Most men regain bladder control a few weeks to several months after the surgery. The main advantage of surgery is that it offers the most certain treatment. That is, if all of the cancer is removed during surgery, you are probably cured. Also, the surgery provides your doctor with accurate information about how advanced your cancer is, since the nearby lymph nodes are taken out along with the tumor. Surgery does have risks. The main risks of radical prostatectomy are incontinence (loss of bladder control) and impotence (loss of the ability to get or keep an erection long enough to have sex). Most bladder and impotence problems improve with time. For more information visit:          http://www.medworldindia.com                                                                  https://www.facebook.com/medworld.india   Please scan and email your medical reports  to us at care@medworldindia.com and we shall get you a Free Medical Opinion from India’s Best Doctors. Call Us : +91-9811058159 Mail Us : care@medworldindia.com