Prostate Cancer Hormone Therapy

As a man between the age of 50 and 100 plus you may well have to ask yourself that question.

The fact is if you live in North America you may be the 1 out of 6 men diagnosed with prostate cancer.

These tips will give you some free information and a question or two to ask your doctor if it should happen to you.

This article is not intended as medical advice, nor should it be taken as medical advice. It is for informational purposes only. As always with a physical illness you should consult your personal physician right away.

It is important for you to understand what hormonal therapy is and what it can do. The primary purpose of course is to treat prostate cancer. It does this by blocking androgens (male hormones).

One such hormone is testosterone and it is one of the culprits which feed the cancer and causes the prostate cancer to grow. Now testosterone is a normal part of every man's hormonal cocktail so it's a bit tough that it also fuels prostate cancer.

One of the questions you need to ask your doctor is to fully explain what prostate cancer hormonal therapy is and what it can do for you. Normally what can happen when the hormonal treatment works is it will cause the tumors to shrink and slow down the spread of the malignancy.

More than likely he will tell you there is more than one option for the hormonal treatment.

One of the primary types of hormonal treatment is the removal of the testicles. The testes produce more than 95% of the male's testosterone. Ironically, because the testes produce the majority of the testosterone, this treatment is classified, by the medical professionals, as hormonal treatment instead of a surgical operation.

However, the formal name of this procedure is called Orchidectomy (you know it as surgical castration). Your doctor will explain that the operating team will remove your testicles through a small incision in your scrotum.

The next question you need to ask the doctor is "What are the side effects of this type of hormonal therapy?" He will tell you about the more intimate side effects, but you also may well experience hot flashes - this is quite a common side effect of castration.

However don’t give up on hormonal therapy yet. You will find when talking to your physicians that there are other options or rather a different type of hormonal treatment. This treatment is called Medical Castration. This treatment will use injections of LHRH Agonists which will turn off production of the male hormones in the testes.

The good news about this procedure is it is can be effective without the surgical removal of the testicles. However, it may also hot flashes as well as the more intimate effects. However, it is believed by many medical professionals that Medical Castration treatment may be reversed. This is done by discontinuing the injections. Once that has occurred the body will start producing testosterone again. Depending on what your Doctor tells you this may not be a good thing, especially since the testosterone is what feeds the cancer and speeds up the spread of the malignancy.

As you have read there are many things you need to talk to your Doctor about. You need a full explanation which type of prostate cancer hormonal treatment will be best for you. Once you have all the information then you will be able to make an informed decision.

The main things is not to be afraid to ask questions. Your doctor is there for you and you have the right to answers about your condition. Make sure you get them.