Treatment for Prostate Cancer

Treatment options for prostate cancer vary depending on the extent and aggressiveness of the disease. Smilow Cancer Hospital's Greenwich Hospital Campus oncology experts are available to help men make this personal decision. Patients who qualify also have access to a variety of clinical trials.

Treatment options for prostate cancer include:

Active Surveillance

Often, prostate cancer does not require treatment. In the vast majority of patients, low risk prostate cancer can safely be monitored, with some patients receiving treatment in the future. This allows patients to delay or avoid entirely the potential risks of treatment, while achieving excellent cancer outcomes. Men who are older, have other medical issues, or do not want to experience potential side effects from treatment may take this approach.

Surgery

Surgeons perform a radical prostectomy to remove the prostate and some surrounding tissue when the cancer has not spread to other parts of the body. The goal is to eliminate the cancer while preserving normal urinary and sexual functions as much as possible.

At Greenwich Hospital, robotic technology with the da Vinci surgical system offers men with prostate cancer better outcomes with fewer side effects. Another option called cryotherapy uses sub-zero temperatures to destroy cancer cells in the prostate.

To learn more about robotic-assisted surgery for the prostate, see Urology Services.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation oncologists can deliver higher doses of radiation to the prostate with fewer side effects using techniques such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy (external radiation). These techniques target cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue.

Greenwich Hospital now offers Xofigo, commonly referred to as Radium 223, a new radiation oncology therapy for patients with stage 4 hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC). This is especially significant for patients whose cancer has spread to the bone and who, until now, had only chemotherapy – and all the side effects associated with it – as a last treatment option. Radium 223 can prolong a patient’s life and reduce the often debilitating pain experienced with advanced state metastatic cancer.

Learn more about Radiation Therapy at Greenwich Hospital

Hormone Therapy

People with advanced prostate cancer may require hormone therapy, sometimes in combination with radiation, surgery and chemotherapy. Hormone therapy may benefit patients whose prostate cancer has spread or has recurred after treatment. These treatments usually reduce the levels of the hormone testosterone, which stimulates the growth of prostate cancer cells.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy, for patients whose prostate cancer has spread and for whom hormone therapy has failed, can prolong life, reduce pain and increase quality of life.

While undergoing chemotherapy, patients often experience fatigue. Patients who experience other symptoms should call a physician or nurse right away.

See When to Call – A Guide to Understanding Symptoms from Chemotherapy