Other treatments are also needed to manage the cancer. Hormone therapies have many possible side effects. Learn what they are. Intermittent not constant hormone therapy may also be a treatment option. Before starting any type of hormone therapy, talk with your health care provider.
There are many benefits and risks to each type of hormone therapy, so ask questions of your doctor so you understand what is best for you. Chemotherapy drugs can slow the growth of cancer. These drugs may reduce symptoms and extend life. Or they may ease pain and symptoms by shrinking tumors. Chemotherapy is useful for men whose cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Most chemotherapy drugs are given through a vein intravenous, IV. During chemotherapy, the drugs move throughout the body.
They kill quickly growing cancer cells and non-cancer cells. Often, chemotherapy is not the main therapy for prostate cancer. But it may be a treatment option for men whose cancer has spread.
Chemotherapy may be given before pain starts as it may prevent pain as cancer spreads to bones and other sites. Side effects may include hair loss, fatigue, nausea and vomiting. There may be changes in your sense of taste and touch. You may be more prone to infections. You may experience neuropathy tingling or numbness in the hands and feet. Due to the side effects from chemotherapy, the decision to use these drugs may be based on:.
If you use chemotherapy, your health care team may watch you closely to manage side effects. There are medicines to help with things like nausea. Most side effects stop once chemotherapy ends. It may be a choice for men with mCRPC who have no symptoms or only mild symptoms. If the cancer returns and spreads, your doctor may offer a cancer vaccine to boost your immune system so it can attack the cancer cells.
Immunotherapy may be given to mCRPC patients before chemotherapy or it may be used along with chemotherapy. Side effects are often in the first 24 hours after treatment and may include fever, chills, weakness, headache, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Patients may also have low blood pressure and rashes. SREs include fractures, pain and other problems. If you have advanced prostate cancer or are taking hormone therapy, your provider may suggest calcium, Vitamin D or other drugs for your bones.
Radiopharmaceuticals are drugs with radioactivity. They can be used to help with bone pain from metastatic cancer. Some may also be used for men whose mCRPC has spread to their bones. They may be offered when ADT is not working. Radiopharmaceuticals give off small amounts of radiation that go to the exact parts where cancer cells are growing.
Drugs used to reduce SREs may help reduce bone turnover. Side effects include low calcium, worsening kidney function and, rarely, destruction of the jawbone. Calcium and Vitamin D are also used to help protect your bones. They are often recommended for men on hormone therapy to treat prostate cancer. Radiation uses high-energy beams to kill tumors.
Prostate cancer often spreads to the bones. Radiation can help ease pain or prevent fractures caused by cancer spreading to the bone. There are many types of radiation treatments. Radiation may be given once or over several visits. Treatment is like having an x-ray. It uses high-energy beams to kill tumors.
Some radiation techniques focus on saving nearby healthy tissue. Computers and software allows better planning and targeting of radiation doses. They target the radiation to pinpoint where it is needed. Active surveillance is mainly used to delay or avoid aggressive therapy. It is often used if you have a small, slow growing cancer.
It may be a choice for men who do not have symptoms or want to avoid sexual, urinary or bowel side effects for as long as possible. Others may choose surveillance due to their age or overall health. This method may require you to have many tests over time to track cancer growth. This lets your doctor know how things are going, and prevents treatment-related side effects. This will also help you and your health care team focus on managing cancer-related symptoms. Talk with your care team about whether this is a good choice for you.
Clinical trials are research studies that test new treatments or learn how to use existing treatments better. Clinical studies aim to find the treatment strategies that work best for certain illnesses or groups of people.
For some patients, taking part in a clinical trial may be a treatment option. Clinical trials follow strict scientific standards. These standards protect patients and help produce reliable study results. You will be given either a standard treatment or the treatment being tested. All of the approved treatments used to treat or cure cancer began in a clinical trial. To search for information on current or recent clinical trials for the treatment of prostate cancer, visit UrologyHealth.
You and your doctor may schedule office visits for tests and follow-up over time. There are certain symptoms your doctor should know about right away, such as blood in your urine or bone pain, but it is best to ask your health care team about the symptoms you should report. Some men find it helpful to keep a diary to help remember things to talk about during follow-up visits.
Incontinence is the inability to control the release of urine and can sometimes happen with prostate cancer treatment. There are different types of incontinence:. Because incontinence may affect your physical and emotional recovery, it is important to understand how to manage this problem. There are treatment choices that may help incontinence.
Talk with your doctor before trying any of these options. Men may have sexual health problems following their cancer diagnosis or treatments. Erectile dysfunction ED is when a man finds it hard to get or keep an erection strong enough for sex. ED happens when there is not enough blood flow to the penis or when nerves to the penis are harmed.
Treatments for cancer, along with emotional stress, can lead to ED. There are treatments that may help ED. They include pills, vacuum pumps, urethral suppositories, penile injections and implants. Treatment can be individualized. Some treatments may work better for you than others. But these problems go away after chemo treatment ends. There are ways to treat most chemo side effects. If you have side effects, talk to your doctor so they can help.
If prostate cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it almost always goes to the bones first. These areas of cancer spread can cause pain and weak bones that might break. Medicines that can help strengthen the bones and lower the chance of fracture are bisphosphonates and denosumab. Sometimes, radiation, radiopharmaceuticals, or pain medicines are given for pain control. A serious side effect of bisphosphonates and denosumab is damage to the jaw, also called osteonecrosis of the jaw ONJ.
Most people will need to get approval from their dentist before starting one of these drugs. Clinical trials are research studies that test new drugs or other treatments in people. They commonly compare standard treatments with others that may be better.
If you would like to learn more about clinical trials that might be right for you, start by asking your doctor if your clinic or hospital conducts clinical trials.
See Clinical Trials to learn more. Clinical trials are one way to get the newest cancer treatment. They are the best way for doctors to find better ways to treat cancer. And if you do sign up for a clinical trial, you can always stop at any time. When you have cancer you might hear about other ways to treat the cancer or treat your symptoms.
These may not always be standard medical treatments. These treatments may be vitamins, herbs, special diets, and other things. You may wonder about these treatments. Some of these are known to help, but many have not been tested.
Some have been shown not to help. A few have even been found to be harmful. When cancer comes back it is called a recurrence. Even when cancer never comes back, people still worry about it. For years after treatment ends, you will see your cancer doctor. At first, your visits may be every few months. Be sure to go to all follow-up visits. Your doctors will ask about your symptoms, examine you, and might order blood tests and maybe other tests to see if the cancer has come back.
Bisphosphonates can have side effects, including flu-like symptoms and bone or joint pain. They can also cause kidney problems, so patients with poor kidney function might not be able to be treated with these medicines. A rare but very serious side effect of these drugs is osteonecrosis of the jaw ONJ. With this condition, part of the jaw bone loses its blood supply and dies. This can lead to tooth loss and infections of the jaw bone that are hard to treat.
Some people develop ONJ when dental work is done during treatment. Many times men are advised to have a dental checkup and have any tooth or jaw problems treated before they start taking a bisphosphonate. Maintaining good oral hygiene by flossing and brushing, making sure that dentures fit properly, and having regular dental checkups may also help prevent ONJ.
Denosumab Xgeva is another drug that can help when prostate cancer spreads to bone. Like the bisphosphonates, denosumab also blocks osteoclasts, but it does so in a different way. This drug can be used:. This drug is injected under the skin every 4 weeks. For most men, however, hormone therapy stops working at some point. Other treatment options may be available through clinical trials. In addition, chemotherapy, surgery, and immunotherapy — as well as radiation treatments, like external beam radiation, which directly target bone problems — may be considered.
Major cancer centers, such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, have teams of prostate cancer specialists, as well as sophisticated radiation and other treatment equipment consolidated in one place, which can help with the coordination of care.
For bone metastases themselves, the ACS says treatments are often effective in shrinking or slowing their growth, which in turn may improve symptoms such as constipation and pain. Your doctor will discuss with you the available treatments that may work best for you; they may include systemic treatments, designed to work throughout your body, or more targeted treatments that zero in on affected bones.
Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight by eating a balanced diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and staying physically active, can help your overall health. These lifestyle changes can also have a positive effect for men with bone metastases, Tagawa says. A healthy lifestyle can help you better manage side effects from treatment as well. Try setting small but realistic goals for yourself when it comes to eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise.
While no single food is likely to have a benefit for prostate cancer, smart food choices may help you feel better day to day. Start by cutting out foods high in sugar, saturated fat , and added flavorings and preservatives. Attention to both diet and exercise can lead to improvements in quality and quantity of life.
The recommendation for adults with any type of cancer is to get at least 40 minutes of exercise that elevates their heart rate four times a week. When it comes to exercise, what matters is that you do it — just keep moving your body. Swimming, bicycling, walking, and gardening all count. Aim for a certain number of steps each day, and consider using a pedometer to help stay on track. Mix things up, set goals for yourself, and try being active with a friend or group to stay motivated.
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