Protate Cancer – Younger Treatments

i. Cryotherapy

This treatment is used to destroy cells by freezing tissue. The technique of treating prostate cancer includes entering the prostate through the perineum, with special needles.

Using a transrectal transducer that monitors and controls the cooling process of the prostate in an attempt to destroy the cells. Insufficient accuracy in monitoring the extent of the cooling process often results in the destruction of tissue around the bladder and long term complications such as wounds in the rectum or in the muscles that control the sphincter continence. The ultimate indication for the application of cryotherapy is prostate cancer recurrence following radiation or brachytherapy.

In this case, the rescue radical prostatectomy is a more difficult surgery with the usual complications of surgery, cryotherapy raise as the most effective solution with fewer side effects. Cryotherapy may also be used in the treatment of clinically localized or locally extensive prostate cancer.

ii. HIFU

The high intensity focused ultrasound beam (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, HIFU) has been designed for the treatment of localized prostate cancer. Head produces a transrectal high-intensity ultrasound traveling through the wall of the rectum and are focused on the prostate.

This focused ultrasound beam causes intense heat destroying the prostate into the focused area and the impact on the surrounding outside hearth healthy tissue is minimal. The treatment lasts for about three hours and is done under general anesthesia.

This technique is new in the treatment of prostate cancer and the long term effects are not yet available.

iii. Chemotherapy

The benefits of chemotherapy for advanced prostate cancer is comparable with the advantages of chemotherapy in patients with other solid tumors receiving chemotherapy.

The drug is usually administered for prostate cancer treatment is docetaxel (Taxotere ®), whose action focuses on cancer cells’ cytoskeleton.

iv. Gene Therapy

Prostate cancer is injected a given virus, which invades the tumor cells, into which is multiplied, so that it becomes part of the cancer. A particular drug can kill built this virus, and thus causing the death of cancer cells. Although this method is still in an experimental stage promises much for the future.

v. Angiogenesis inhibitors
vi. Immunostimulation (cancer vaccine)

From a prostate cancer patient, we isolate tumor cells which then get radiated by X-rays to lose their ability to proliferate. However, these cells retain their ability to irritate the immune system. So, when transfused again into the patient, the may cause increase of the body defense (immune), destroying the remaining tumor cells.