An Inside Look at Prostate Cancer Cures In The Various Forms Of Treatments Available As Therapy
By Tim Gorman
Prostate cancer cures lay in the various forms of treatments available as therapy for the disease.
Common Treatments for Prostate Cancer
Radiation, hormone therapy, radical prostatecomy, chemotherapy, and cryotherapy, which seeks to destroy cancer cells by freezing them, are amongst the most common treatments for prostate cancer, and the closet modern medicine has come to finding prostate cancer cures.
Radiation for prostate cancer treatment involves the use of external-beam radiation therapy, and radioactive seed implants.
Prostate cancer hormone therapy implements the use of drugs to stop the biological production of male sex hormones. Androgens are male sex hormones that have been clinical linked to the development of prostate cancer when produced in excess.
Radical prostatecomy is the surgical removal of the prostate gland. There are two radical prostatecomy surgical procedures available, retropubic surgery, and perineal surgery. The retropubic surgery removes the prostate gland through an incision placed below the navel. The perineal surgery features an incision for removal placed between the anus and scrotum.
Conventional Prostate Cancer Medications
Luteinizing hormone-releasing analogs (LHRH) are designed to lower testosterone levels. Such prostate cancer medications are administered via injections and can be given monthly or every three, six, or nine months. Many metastases (with the cancer spreading outside of the prostate gland) prostate cancer patients opt for this round of prostate cancer treatments as opposed to a surgical removal of their testicles.
Plenaxis is the newest LHRH antagonists. The drug works to lower testosterone but does not cause a sharp rise in testosterone levels before taking affect, as LHRH analogs do. LHRH antagonists can only be used in men who are not able to use other forms of hormonal treatment. Abarelix, Lupron, Zoladex, Eulexin, and Casodex are other common types of LHRH antagonists.
Finding Prostate Cancer Cures Through Clinical Trials
Clinical trials serves as one way of finding prostate cancer cures. All prostate cancer medications must take pass the three phases required to gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
Phase I of the clinical trials test the safety of a new drug. The second clinical phase is designed to determine how the proposed new prostate cancer treatment works. Patients are given the drug in high doses during this phase. The patients are watched to see what effect the test drug has on their prostate cancer. The final phase of clinical trial testing pits test medications against standard treatments. A control group is given dosages of the test drug while a second group uses standard methods of medicine-with the effects documented.
For more information on prostate cancer cures please visit http://www.onlineprostatehealthguide.com, a popular website that provides prostate cancer related tips, advice and resources to include information on the prostate gland, Gleason scores and prostate cancer symptoms.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=TimGorman
http://EzineArticles.com/?An-Inside-Look-at-Prostate-Cancer-Cures-In-The-Various-Forms-Of-Treatments-Available-As-Therapy&id=440856
