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TREATMENTS AND QUESTIONS TO ASK Summary of treatment options It's tempting for us to list detailed descriptions of all the various treatments. However, our primary knowledge is the experience of receiving treatment. So here we simply list the treatments and give web-links and we suggest that you phone our Help Line to ask about the patient experience. Active Surveillance - pro-active monitoring of early stage cancer with the intent to cure. Watchful Waiting - regular check ups possibly leading to hormone treatment or palliative care. This is offered to men who are likely to die from other causes. Surgery - an operation to remove the prostate, suitable for localised cancer. There are currently 3 methods: open surgery, keyhole (laparascopic) surgery or robotically assisted surgery. External Beam Radiotherapy - uses radiation to destroy the cancer cells. Permanent Seed Brachytherapy - radioactive seeds are implanted long term in the prostate. High Dose Rate Brachytherapy - radioactive seeds are inserted through an array of tubes into the prostate and seminal vesicles and removed after each session. Patients usually receive two or three sessions of insertion of the seeds during a period of about 30 hours. Hormone Treatment - used either as an adjuvant (additional) treatment to radiotherapy or where the cancer has spread outside the prostate gland. also here Cryotherapy or Cryosurgery - freezing of the prostate; may be used after failed radiotherapy. High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) - cancer cells are heated and destroyed by ultrasound. Cryrotherapy and HIFU are fairly new treatments and may be offered as part of clinical trials. Each case can be considered by individual Primary Care Trusts. Bisphosphonate chemo-therapy Orchidectomy (also called orchiectomy) is an operation to remove your testicles (testes). It is an alternative to chemical castration by hormone therapy and is effective in shrinking the cancer in 90% of men. Robotic surgery is a type of keyhole (laparoscopic) surgery. It is also called da Vinci surgery. A surgeon does the surgery but uses a special machine (robot) to help. Questions to ask your GP and Specialist Each of the links given above includes questions that you might ask your GP or specialist.
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