Questions at a prostate cancer diagnosis
A cancer diagnosis raises many questions and the need to have someone to talk to is often great. Our experienced and knowledgeable contact nurses can give you and your relatives answers to questions about treatment options, prognosis, what it’s like to live with prostate cancer and other things you may be wondering about. At prostatacancerförbundet.se and cancerfonden.se you will also find professional and scientifically based information about prostate cancer.
Active monitoring
You can choose to wait for treatment if the cancer is only in the prostate and is growing slowly. Instead, you have to go to regular check-ups. This is called active monitoring. In such cases you make a return visit to the doctor and submit a PSA test every 3-6 months. You may also need to be examined with a magnetic camera and provide tissue samples. You will receive treatment if the checks show that the cancerous tumor is beginning to develop.
Surgery
If your cancer diagnosis means that surgery is the most appropriate treatment method, the surgery is performed at the Peritus Clinic. At our clinic prostate cancer surgery is usually performed with robot-assisted surgery. This means that the urologist controls the robotic instruments through four keyholes in the body (keyhole surgery or laparoscopic surgery). The prostate is removed through a slightly larger incision near the navel. Complications are rare, but there is a risk of urinary leakage and impotence, which your doctor will inform you about before the procedure. You can read more about how the operation is done below.
Drug treatment
Prostate cancer needs testosterone to grow and can therefore be slowed down with hormone therapy. There are various drugs whose effect is to make it more difficult for testosterone to form or to work. Hormone treatment may sometimes need to be combined with other drugs to have an extra effect. Hormone therapy can also be given along with radiation.
Treatment of advanced prostate cancer, when there are metastases elsewhere in the body, must always be planned individually. The primary treatment of advanced prostate cancer always includes drug treatment, usually hormonal treatment and cytostatic treatment or a combination of these.
Radiation treatment
Radiation therapy is an option for treating prostate cancer. Whether radiation or surgery is the preferred treatment for a patient depends on various factors and is judged by an oncologist on a case-by-case basis. Side effects from radiation are common, but in many cases temporary. When it comes to prostate cancer, the most common side effect of radiation therapy is bowel side effects such as changes in bowel habits, mucus formation and leakage, and frequent urges to urinate. Radiation can also affect erectile function.
The Peritus Clinic does not currently offer radiation therapy. However, we can offer a consultation with our oncologist to review the treatments that are most suitable for your disease. In cases where this treatment is relevant, we will refer you to another healthcare provider.
There are two types of radiation therapy for prostate cancer.
External radiation therapy
External beam radiation therapy can be an alternative to surgery if you have other diseases. The treatment takes a few minutes and is not felt. In many cases, seven treatments over three weeks are enough.
Internal radiation therapy – brachytherapy
Internal radiation therapy is usually used if the cancer tumor is larger and growing rapidly. The treatment is given inside the prostate. Then it is possible to receive higher radiation doses than with external radiation therapy without affecting the healthy body tissue.