Conquering Prostate Cancer

Your Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

Dr. Paul Lange, chairman of the Department of Urology at the University of Washington and a prostate cancer survivor himself, compares prostate cancer to a tortoise, a hare, or a bird. The tortoise moves slowly–so slowly that you may not even bother to treat it, especially if you’re beyond the age of 70 or so. A hare moves fast, and must be caught right away. And a bird has already flown from the prostate gland and alighted in other tissues. That calls for an all-out assault on the disease.

If you have “tortoise” cancer you may opt to do nothing. In that case your urologist will want to check your PSA every few months to see if it’s going up, and perhaps perform another biopsy at some point. “If there are any changes in their condition that represent potential progression of the cancer, they will be put on some treatment modality,” says Dr. Louis Potters, chairman of radiation medicine at North Shore Health System on Long Island. “We call that expectant management or active surveillance.”

If your prostate cancer acts more like a hare, but remains confined to the prostate gland, you have three basic options: surgery to remove the entire prostate; external-beam radiation, which uses gamma radiation to kill the cancer cells; and brachytherapy, which involves implanting tiny radioactive seeds into the tumor itself.

The good news is that all of these options are very effective. No matter which option men choose, between 85 and 94% with low-risk cancer will survive, as will 75 to 84% with intermediate risk, and 60-75% with higher risk. Given those odds, you can already begin to feel more positive about a diagnosis as well as treatment options. Listen to your doctor’s recommendation and take the time to make an informed decision.