Overview of Prostate Cancer
Many types of cancer have been revealed by medical science like breast cancer, blood cancer, and others. Among various types of cancer, prostate cancer is one of the types of cancer. Prostate cancer is found only among men. It is cancer developed in the prostate gland of men. Prostate cancer is a common type of cancer, and the American Cancer Society has found 180,890 cases of prostate cancer in 2016. Moreover, there were 26,120 deaths from prostate cancer, making it second leading cause of cancer death among American men.
The men diagnosed with this cancer are provided with various treatment methods. The types of treatment methods provided to them are surgery for complete or partial removal of the gland, radiotherapy for reducing tumors, and consistent monitoring approach. You are provided with various treatment methods, but does this mean that you should immediately go for the treatment? We will be discussing this question in the next part of the article.
Should I go for the treatment immediately after being diagnosed with prostate cancer?
The study shows that the people who opted for treatment were better able to slow down the progress of the cancer cell. However, it does not mean that the men who opted for treatment were more benefited. The men who opted not to do anything with their prostate cancer did not actually require further treatment. Moreover, they were safe from the side effects of radiation and surgery like sexual dysfunction, cardiovascular issues, and urinary incontinence. In many cases, the growth of cancer cells is so slow that it is not even considered as a medical problem.
Here is one of the interesting facts about prostate cancer. It does not matter how they approach their prostate cancer, the majority of the patients will not face the death from cancer, cancer treatment, and any other reasons before ten years. The study shows that death from prostate cancer is usually measured after 15-20 years.
The study outcomes show that active monitoring is a better approach for prostate cancer for many patients. The men who go through treatment can experience negative side effects like sexual dysfunction, cardiovascular problems, and urinary incontinence. The men who suffer from sexual dysfunction can use some of the top male enhancement pills. However, the issue being addressed here is the better approach to prostate cancer. It might be better to choose the active monitoring approach because the time might suggest the best way to sort out the issues of the men who have prostate cancer.
There could be cases where men might require immediate treatment. The further development will allow urologists to discern high risk and low-risk patients to make sure only those patients who need surgery and other treatments will undergo immediate treatment.
The difference in outcomes according to treatment
In a research carried out by Prostate Testing for Cancer and Treatment, they recruited 2,664 patients diagnosed with prostate cancer. The treatment methods were randomly selected, and they were tried at the patients. The treatment methods tried were active monitoring, radiotherapy, and radical prostatectomy. The key findings found from the research were:
There was no significant difference in death rate. The patients were followed up by the scientists after ten years median. Although the prostate cancer death was less among the people who were treated with surgery and radiation, it was not significant. Almost a 98.8% survival rate was found in the case of death due to prostate cancer.
- There was a difference in the rate the prostate cancer was spread. Among the people who were left out for active monitoring instead of treatment, 112 men experienced the progression of diseases and cancer. This shows the benefit of getting treated immediately after prostate cancer is diagnosed. However, further research is required to find out the long-term impacts.
Conclusion
The major question now is what we can conclude from all the knowledge, insights, and researches. Should we go for immediate treatment after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, or we should also keep active monitoring as one of the options after being diagnosed with prostate cancer? The views vary among the experts. Some experts believe that active monitoring should be the least favorable option, and other experts believe that active monitoring should also be considered.
In recent time, more and more men are opting for active monitoring rather than treatment. Whatever the situation might be, the important thing before suggesting the treatment methods is to find out the status of the patients. It is necessary to sort out high-risk and low-risk patients to choose the right method after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. In the current scenario, the doctors still lack enough tools to find whether the patient is high-risk one or the low-risk one. We might be able to suggest better treatment methods in the future after adequate research and development.