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Effective treatment options for advanced prostate cancer

Prostate cancer refers to the tumor in the prostate gland, which happens to be a walnut-sized gland between the bladder and the penis. A prostate produces a fluid which carries the sperms while ejaculating. Metastatic prostate cancer that has started to spread to the hip, the spine, and the pelvic bones is referred to as advanced prostate cancer. As the prostate cancer advances, it starts to branch out to nearby regions of the body either through the blood or through the lymphatic system.
Unfortunately, there are no treatments discovered till date that can completely cure a case of advanced prostate cancer.

The five-year survival rate for the distant stage of prostate cancer, the stage where cancer has spread to the bones, the lymph nodes, and other organs that are far away from the prostate gland, happens to be about an alarming 29%.
However, today there are a couple of treatment options for patients suffering from advanced prostate cancer that help in the better management of the symptoms and the prognosis of advanced prostate cancer. Here are some two popular treatments to know about.

Endocrine therapy
It is found out that testosterone plays a vital role in facilitating the prognosis of advanced prostate cancer.

Therefore, by decreasing the level of testosterone in a male, the advancement of prostate cancer can be slowed. Endocrine therapy or hormone therapy helps in not only giving temporary relief from cancer but also in reducing the size of the tumor. This hormonal therapy’s main aim is to reduce the level of prostate-specific antigen (PAS), a protein secreted by the prostate gland. The PAS, when produced in excess, is an important sign of prostate cancer. Just like any other therapy, hormonal therapy has its own side effects. Patients who are undergoing hormonal therapy for prostate cancer often complain of adverse side effects like impotence, reduced sex drive, osteoporosis, and in some cases even serious heart-related problems.

Surgery
If it is observed that medicines and other therapies are not helping to improve the prognosis of advanced prostate cancer, then the doctor might recommend a patient to undergo a salvage prostatectomy. In this type of surgery, the entire prostate gland is removed. Another surgery done to reduce the testosterone level in a patient suffering from advanced prostate cancer is called orchiectomy, where a man’s testicles are removed and often replaced with prosthetics in the shape of testicles.

With proper medical treatment, diet, and some other small but effective lifestyle changes, advanced prostate cancer symptoms and the prognosis of the disease, in general, can be managed much better.

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