Prostate Cancer Chemotherapy
Prostate cancer is serious and it develops in the male reproductive system or prostate gland. The most common treatment for this type of cancer is chemotherapy. The prostate is part of the male reproductive organ which makes and stores seminal fluid. In a typical adult male, the prostate is three centimeters long and weighs roughly twenty grams. The prostate is found under the urinary bladder and in front of the rectum.This location means that prostate disease typically affects both urination and sexual activity. In the first phrase of prostate cancer, there are usually no symptoms. It can still be diagnosed during a medical examination during this early stage by an elevated PSA (prostate specific antigen) level. As the disease progresses the patient might experience frequent urination, increased urination at night, difficult starting and stopping a steady stream of urine, blood in the urine, or painful urination. It is essential to catch this cancer in its early stages as it can spread throughout the body.
Treatment for prostate cancer might involve surgery, radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Use of chemotherapy for prostate cancer was for some time limited to relieving symptoms associated with metastatic or very advanced stages of the disease.
According to the Prostate Cancer Foundations website two studies completed in 2004 showed the use of the drug Docetaxel could slow the progress of the disease and prolong the lives of men whose cancer no longer responded to other treatments. Subsequent trails found that various combinations of chemotherapy drugs could be used to make this treatment more tolerable and effective.
Side effects can be difficult in the treatment of prostate cancer. Since treatment can be such a varied experience it’s important for a patient to ask the doctor for information about what to expect from their treatment, and what possible side effects they might experience.
Men should take screening for this disease very seriously since early diagnosis and treatment usually produces the best outcome for this type of cancer. If chemotherapy for prostate cancer is prescribe by a doctor during any stage of the disease it could well be the patient’s best bet for a return to health.