Prostate Cancer - How to Treat it with Radiation Therapy

If you or someone you know suffers from prostrate cancer, it is important to have the facts when it comes to cancer treatment. Most cancer doctors recommend the use of radiation therapy when treating prostrate cancer. Understanding radiation therapy will help your cancer patient when it comes to fighting prostrate cancer.

Radiation therapy treats prostrate cancer through the use of uses high doses of radiation which destroys cancer cells. This type of cancer treatment permanently damages the cells so that they can't grow. One of the side effects of using radiation to damage cancer cells is that it also damages normal cells. However, normal healthy cells can easily repair themselves, which cancer cells are unable to do.

In the treatment of prostrate cancer, radiation therapy may be used separately or in combination with other cancer treatments such as hormonal therapy. Radiation therapy used separately is most effective in treating cancer that is still contained with the prostate. It is also used if the in combination with hormones if the cancer has spread. Radiation is also used after surgery to get rid of any cancer cells that may have been missed during the initial treatment and to relive a patient's postoperative pain.

Radiation therapy can be used two ways to treat prostrate cancer:

External-beam radiation therapy

This type of cancer treatment is done without the cancer doctor having to break the skin or create an incision on or near the prostrate. This type of cancer treatment employs large machine which aims a beam the radiation directly at your tumor. The surgeon marks the precise area where the cancer has been found with surgical ink. The cancer surgeon then aims the radiation at the ink mark and destroys the cancer cells. External radiation treatments usually are performed several times a week for one to two months.

Brachytherapy

Unlike external-beam radiation therapy, this type of therapy is used to treat the prostrate from the inside. In this type of prostrate cancer treatment, the cancer cells are bombarded with tiny radiation seeds. This is often considered the best treatment for early-stage prostate cancer. The cancer surgeon uses needles are to insert the seeds through the patient's skin and into the prostate. When the needles are removed, they leave the radiation seeds behind, tucked inside of the diseased prostrate. The radioactive seeds stay inside the gland releasing the radioactivity needed to destroy the cancer cells. The seeds are not removed but continue to release radiation for some time after they are inserted.

There are side effects that may occur after either type of thyroid cancer treatment. These side effects can include: proctitis, cystitis, enteritis, impotence, incontinence, dysuria. Or bleeding from the rectum or while urinating. Side effects usually clear up shortly after the treatment has ended and the cancer doctor will work to ensure that the patient suffers only minimal discomfit. Radiation therapy is an effective form of prostrate cancer treatment and the side effects should be considered a small price to pay for a healthy prostrate gland.