Many or men will be diagnosed with the disease each year. The Cancer Association of South Africa (Cansa) (www.cansa.org.za) offers a host of tools to help those diagnosed with the diseased cope. Below are some of the tips offered.
If you or someone you know has just been diagnosed with prostate cancer you may be experiencing a number of feelings; disbelief, fear, anger, anxiety and depression.
There are many treatment options and support resources that can help you and your family through this difficult time and on towards a normal, healthy life.
Dealing with a cancer diagnosis
Learning more about prostate cancer and the available treatments is the first step towards improving the outlook and relieving some of the anxiety and stress caused by diagnosis.
Be an empowered patient and feel comfortable getting a second opinion. The doctors work for you, not the other way around.
Be prepared with a list of questions for your doctor.
Bring along your partner, a family member or friend for support and an objective observer who can help translate what occurred and what information has been offered in the doctor’s office.
Visit the Cancer Association of South Africa website for extensive post-diagnosis information.
Treatment Decision
If you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer the message is don’t panic.
Many prostate cancers are slow growing and may not need surgery or other radical treatment.
Active surveillance – regular monitoring – is now a common treatment option for men with low risk, low grade prostate cancer.
Take the time to learn about the various treatment options and to make an informed decision about what to do.
Take action and seek advice from medical professionals and from reputable sources such as Cansa.
Remember, because the side effects of treatment include erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer can have a serious impact on intimate relationships.
As many people who have been through the journey will tell you, prostate cancer isn’t just a man’s disease, it’s a couple’s disease.
Make sure you involve your partner as you think through the various treatment options.
Many men and their partners find talking to someone who has already been on a similar cancer journey can be invaluable.
Cansa has a network of 110 support groups in different provinces across South Africa that have 2 950 trained care and support volunteers.
Active Surveillance
Many prostate cancers are slow growing and may not need surgery or other radical treatment.
Active surveillance (which is regular monitoring) is now a common treatment option for men with low risk, low grade prostate cancer.
During active surveillance, prostate cancer is carefully monitored for signs of progression.
These tumours can be safely watched, using six-monthly PSAs and yearly or second-yearly biopsies to ensure that they do not progress.
If symptoms develop, or if tests indicate the cancer is growing, treatment might be warranted.
Prostatectomy
A surgical approach to treating prostate cancer will remove all of the prostate gland.
Typically, men with early-stage disease or cancer that’s confined to the prostate will undergo radical prostatectomy – removal of the entire prostate gland, plus some surrounding tissue.
Advances in surgical technique allow men to stay in the hospital one to two nights on average.
Other surgical procedures may be performed on patients with advanced or recurrent disease.
Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy involves the use of various types of X-rays (radiation) to treat cancer.
External beam radiotherapy has been the traditional method of delivering the radiation.
Short pulses of tightly focused beams of X-rays are delivered from outside the body into the prostate for a few minutes each day.
Brachytherapy is a more recent development in which radiation is delivered from inside the prostate.
Low Dose Brachytherapy employs radioactive seeds that are permanently placed within the prostate to kill the tumour.
The procedure is done under anaesthetic and usually requires a stay in hospital.
Hormone Therapy
Prostate cancer cells are like other living organisms, meaning they need fuel to grow and survive.
Because the hormone testosterone serves as the main fuel for prostate cancer cell growth, it’s a common target for therapeutic intervention in men with the disease.
Hormone therapy, also known as androgen-deprivation therapy or ADT, is designed to stop testosterone from being released or to prevent it from acting on the prostate cells. Although hormone therapy plays an important role in men with advancing prostate cancer, it is increasingly being used before, during, or after local treatment as well.
The majority of cells in prostate cancer tumours respond to the removal of testosterone.
But some cells grow independent of testosterone and remain unaffected by hormone therapy.
Side Effects
It is important to understand that it is possible to deal with the two most common side effects of treatment for prostate cancer – incontinence (involuntary leakage of urine) and erectile dysfunction (difficulty achieving or maintaining an erection).
The prostate is situated just under the bladder and is surrounded by the nerves that control erections, which is why surgery, radiotherapy and other treatments commonly cause these side effects at least temporarily.
If the problems don’t go away there are now many medical and surgical treatments available to cure incontinence and erectile dysfunction.
* All information is taken from www.zamovember.co.za. Information should not be taken at face value and a doctor should always be consulted on the correct procedures and treatments in the case of any diseases covered in these pages.
Visit www.cansa.org.za, email: info@cansa.org.za or call 0800 22 66 22 for up to date details of a support group near you.
