Enlarged Prostate Symptoms

As our society quickly becomes one of the most unhealthy on the planet, there is a small but growing contingent of concerned citizens who resolve to make health a priority. For these people, there are certain areas of health which should not be ignored, and for men, prostate health is one of these. Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers that men develop. Thankfully, with proper screening, many prostate cancers are caught early. With early detection comes great survival rates. Although this is good news, it can be of small comfort to men who have been diagnosed with a prostate cancer and who must now face a choice of treatments for prostate cancer. Thankfully, as medicine has evolved, so have treatment options for men with prostate cancer.

For many years, radiation therapy was the standard among treatments for prostate cancer. However, for various reasons, this treatment was often ineffective, and the side effects could sometimes be harmful. As science has developed more effective methods for delivering radiation therapy, the treatment has become more effective. Today, doctors use highly concentrated and localized doses of radiation to treat some men with prostate cancer. In order to be eligible for radiation therapy, certain conditions must be met. The Gleason score must be 6 or under, and the PSA count must be 10 or under. Additionally, the cancer must be localized to the prostate (meaning it cannot have spread) and there must be no abdominal scarring from previous surgeries.

In addition to radiation therapy, there are other treatments for prostate cancer. Surgery is often the best route to take for localized or contained cancers. Hormonal therapy and chemotherapy may also be used. Another approach, which is available to some men, is to just wait and see. These men undergo frequent screenings and blood tests to make sure the cancer isn’t spreading. This is mostly used in men who have some other underlying medical issue, usually older men, for whom the other treatments described above might be too difficult or cause other complications. This “watchful waiting,” as it is known, must be undertaken carefully and is not always recommended.