Treatment
Many prostate cancers behave benignly; they do not spread beyond the prostate or cause any disabling effects. Such a cancer will have a Gleason grade of less than 7, usually 5-6 and a PSA <10; there will be only ‘local disease’ confined to the prostate and no evidence of bony metastases or spread. Such a person is likely to be on no treatment for their prostate cancer although they may have had some surgery to improve their urine flow. They will be kept under ‘active surveillance’ to make sure treatment starts as soon as it is needed. This type of prostate cancer is rare in men under 50 and common in men over 70.
If the prostate cancer is described as high grade or extra-capsular, the Gleason grade is greater than 7, or there are bony metastases then treatment is likely to be given. Treatment may be in the form of tablets, radical radiotherapy or major surgery (not a Transurethral Prostatectomy (TURP), which is an operation designed to improve the urine flow). Surgery for prostate cancer is not aimed at improving the urine flow. It is aimed at either removing the prostate gland in total (instead of coring it out like in a TURP) or reducing the growth of the cancer cells within the prostate gland with drugs or attempting to eliminate cancer cells with radiotherapy.
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Amended April 2008
