When you receive a prostate cancer diagnosis, you may wonder what treatment options are available to you. While most standard cancer treatments are used for prostate cancer, including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, there are also other options becoming available for prostate cancer that may be more effective than standard treatment protocols. Many of these newer and lesser known prostate cancer treatments are either in clinical trials or fresh out of the trial phase. So, get to know these treatment options and talk to an oncologist, like the professionals at Unity Urology PC, to see if they are viable options for you. 

High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound

High-intensity focused ultrasound treatments for prostate cancer are one of the cutting edge of technological advances in cancer treatments. The use of intense sound waves to treat cancer is considered to be minimally-invasive and may be able to help eradicate cancer without all of the negative side effects associated with standard cancer treatments. 

High-intensity focused ultrasound technologies have been in use in Europe for a while now to treat early stage and recurrent prostate cancer that has not spread to other parts of the body. In the United States,  however, it is still considered to be an experimental treatment and is in use through clinical trials and testing. If you are interested in the use of ultrasounds to treat your prostate cancer, ask your doctor if they know of any ongoing clinical trials that you could get involved with. 

Cryosurgery

Cryosurgery is a prostate cancer treatment option that is highly innovative and unique it its methodology. This treatment plan involves the targeting of prostate cancer cells in order to freeze and destroy them.

Your doctor will use ultrasounds to find the area of the prostate that needs to be treated. Then, a cryotube is used to access that area and to circulate liquid nitrogen into the specified area of the prostate to freeze and kill the cells. 

This treatment method is used primarily when prostate cancer is in its early stages. It is used primarily with patients who cannot handle surgery or other treatment methods due to advanced age or medical conditions. It can cause urinary incontinence (usually temporary), and in some cases impotence. As such, it is not the first choice in treatment for young and otherwise healthy patients.

Being diagnosed with prostate cancer leaves you with a number of options for treatment. If you try standard cancer treatment and have frequent recurrences of your prostate cancer, or you cannot or do not want to deal with the strain put on your body by such treatments, you may want to try one of these new and innovative prostate cancer treatments. Discuss these options and the many others with your oncologist to determine the best course of treatment for you.