Observation includes regular rectal examinations to check for increasing size of the nodule , and blood tests (every three months during the first year and then every six months) to check for rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA).
Hormonal Therapy When the prostate cancer can no longer be cured with surgery or radiation or when the patient is not a candidate for these methods perhaps because of other illness, hormonal therapy is used to slow the growth of the tumor and reduce symptoms. It is not a cure, but results can be very good. The idea behind this treatment is that the male hormone testosterone helps prostate tumor cells thrive. Depriving the tumor cells of this hormone will often retard the tumor's growth.
Hormonal therapy can be given by removing the testicles (the body's main source of male hormone) or by giving other hormones or chemicals to shut down the body's production of testosterone or counteract its effects. Patients receiving hormonal therapy often experience dramatic relief of symptoms, which can sometimes last for years. But ultimately, the tumor returns.
All the methods used to manipulate the male hormone system will cause men to lose their desire for sex. They may also produce hot flashes.
• Removing the testicles (orchiectomy) is a simple surgical procedure that can be done under local or general
anesthesia in an outpatient department. Once this is done there is no need for further hormonal therapy. Some
men find this procedure undesirable, but the effect is the same as for other hormonal treatments.
