Prostate Cancer Treatment Options

Treatment Overview
Surgical Options
Radiation Therapies
Hormone Therapies
Chemotherapy

Prostate Cancer Treatment. Depending on the type, location and stage of the cancer, as well as the age and overall health of the patient, there are numerous treatment options for prostate cancer that can be employed. However the most effective are surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, chemotherapy or a combination of the four. The Lacks Cancer Center is on the cutting-edge of care utilizing the latest technologies for the treatment of prostate cancer including the revolutionary daVinci Surgical System, nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy, radiation delivered by CT TomoTherapy and transperineal brachytherapy.

Surgical Options. Patients in good health are usually offered surgery as an option for the treatment of prostate cancer. At The Lacks Cancer Center we offer several progressive surgical techniques:

• Nerve Sparing Radical Retropubic Prostatectomy. Here, the prostate, surrounding tissue and seminal vesicles (the glands that produce seminal fluid) are removed. Our surgeons use an innovative mini-laparotomy incision of only 3 to 5 inches in length. This technique offers all the benefits of more traditional open surgery with less post-operative pain and a much faster recovery for our patients. In addition, our urologists also use a technique known as nerve-sparing surgery that allows us to save the nerves that control erections, improving the chance of maintaining normal sexual function.
• The da Vinci® Robot-assisted Laparoscopic Prostatectomy. This relatively new robot-assisted surgery enables our surgeons to perform even the most complex and delicate procedures through very small incisions with precision. Using a set of robotic instruments our surgeons make six small incisions in the abdomen and insert tiny laparoscopic instruments and a laparoscopic camera to assist in carrying out the surgery. Many of our patients experience less pain, less blood loss and a shorter recovery time when compared to traditional open surgery. More
  

Radiation therapy. The goal of radiation therapy is to kill cancer cells while harming as little normal tissue as possible. Radiation treatment options at the Lacks Cancer Center include intensity modulated three dimensional conformal radiation therapy (IMRT) and transperineal brachytherapy.

• CT TomoTherapy. The Lacks Cancer Center is the first in Michigan to offer this treatment—an advanced form of IMRT. CT TomoTherapy involves the use of a CT scanner in order to direct radiation with increased precision. This allows the most accurate radiation delivery possible to the prostate without raising the risk of radiation injury to healthy tissue. Typically, radiation is delivered over a period of 8 to 9 weeks.
• Transperineal Brachytherapy. This is a surgical procedure, performed under general anesthesia, in which a series of needles are placed through the skin behind the scrotum and into the prostate. Ultrasound imaging is used to guide the needles, which precisely place radioactive seeds in the prostate. These radioactive seeds then emit radiation for the next 120 days to treat the prostate.

Hormone Therapy. Hormones are substances produced by glands in the body and circulated in the bloodstream. The male hormone testosterone causes prostate cancer to grow. If testosterone is blocked or its production is stopped, the cancer will stop growing and some cancer cells will die. Hormone therapy removes hormones or blocks their action and stops cancer cells from growing.

Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is a cancer treatment that uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping the cells from dividing. At this time, chemotherapy is used only when prostate cancer has become hormone-independent.

Seek the most aggressive treatments available from our Multidisciplinary Urologic Clinic with a referral from your primary care physician or with a self-referral by calling 1-877-LACKS-MI or 616-752-LACK(S).