Millions of people every year wonder whether there is the chance of a new prostate cancer therapy on the horizon that will bring the hope of life to the approximately 28,000 men who die of prostate cancer each year in the USA. Not just that, but there are almost 200,000 new cases diagnosed in the USA alone every year too.
In this article, we will take a brief look at the most modern remedies that are already available now or may be soon. However, by the time you read this piece, it is fairly likely that there will have been further advances, and perhaps set-backs, in the new methods. Therefore, it is wise to do further research if you are interested in any of the techniques raised here.
One of the most recent drugs to be approved by America’s FDA is called Provenge, which was developed by a company called Dendreon. The side effects associated with Provenge range from flu-like indications to stroke, but a stroke is very improbable.
Provenge works by stimulating the patient’s own immune system to attack and defeat the cancer. This means that it is completely different in nature from both chemotherapy and hormonal remedies.
The typical side are quite mild because the treatment uses cells from the patients own body to create the medicine which stimulates the immune system.
The sufferer has to go to a cell collection centre to give cells before every treatment is given. This can give rise to a possible illness, which is normally mild if it does happen. A temperature and flu-like symptoms may occur for a couple of days. Three doses of Provenge are required for a complete treatment.
Cryotherapy is still in its early years, but it continues to display more and more promise. Cryotherapy is the method of freezing the cancer to death. It is most effective if used against prostate cancers in their primitive stages.
Prostate cancers in their earliest stages are still contained within the margins of the prostate itself and therefore no metastasis has begun. Doctors are able to freeze a very precise area with a ‘cryoneedle’. However, the area that can become frozen at one time is very small, hence its suitability for small, newly-forming cancers.
Cryotherapy is becoming more effective all the time and produces virtually no side effects except perhaps a little bleeding. Most ‘healthy’ patients are able to go home after each session, although those with other complications may need to remain in hospital overnight.
As stated above, these are fairly modern remedies that are still being improved upon although they are in everyday use. If your physician does not mention them, you could bring them up in conversation or go to a different medical doctor for a second opinion.
if you are a male more than the age of fifty, it is worth raising these topics with your physician when you go for your next check up, I am sure that he or she will have more up-to-date details on the subject.
Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a number of topics, but is currently involved with proton prostate cancer treatment. If you want to kcurrently more go to What is the Treatment for Prostate Cancer?