Cancer treatments are usually the first step toward survival, but certain pros and cons must be considered. Focusing on just the pros of brachytherapy (a treatment focused strictly on the prostate area which doesn't negatively affect other areas), and ignoring the cons (the need to wear condoms during intercourse to prevent passing radiation seeds to your partner, which could cause other health issues), will not give you enough information to make the best decision for you and your family.
Treatment Types
There are approximately seven other treatments for prostate cancer: External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT), cryotherapy, chemotherapy, robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALRP), radical prostatectomy, hormone therapy and radioactive seed implants.
Pros and Cons of EBRT
Some pros of EBRT include: a short treatment time (out of a 10-minute session, only one minute is actually spent under the radiation beam); a painless treatment experience; and since the beam is directed at the cancer site only, fewer healthy cells and tissue are destroyed in the process.
Cons of EBRT are these possible, but not generally long-term, side effects: frequent and urgent urination needs, sexual difficulties, rectal bleeding and loose stools.
Pros and Cons of Radioactive Seed Implants
With these types of radiation implants (known as brachytherapy), a higher dosage of radiation can be delivered to the cancer site than with EBRT and without the fear of harming healthy cells and tissues. Other than the two-hour surgery needed to implant the seeds, there is no other treatment time.
There are cons to having radioactive seed implants which include the need to wear a condom during sex, after the implantation, in order to prevent seeds escaping through ejaculation and causing radiation contamination in your partner's body. In addition, painful urination and erectile dysfunction can occur. Also, patients will need to stay at least six feet away from any pregnant women (and all children) during the early months following treatment.
Pros and Cons of Hormone Therapy
The good news about hormone therapy is that it can be done as an outpatient treatment. The drug used is simply injected into the body via a muscle, however, it can be injected under the skin too. The injections are done only once every three or four months. Enlarged breasts, a decreasing sex drive, erectile dysfunction, and even hot flashes are the cons that can result from this type of treatment.
Pros and Cons of Cryotherapy and Chemotherapy
A pro of cryotherapy is also its con: the technique used to kill the cancer cells. While the probe used to freeze the cancer cells eliminates the need for surgery, or the possibility of infecting your sexual partner with radiation (like with radioactive seeds), it also can permanently damage the healthy cells and tissue near the cancer site, creating new health problems such as injury to the bladder muscles (which can make urination difficult) or damage to the rectum (which can result in bowel movement complications).
The biggest pro of chemotherapy is its ability to kill the rapid-growing cells, but since it has even more negative side effects than does hormone therapy, doctors tend to use this type of therapy only in those unique cases where hormone therapy isn't possible due to resistance, or if the cancer has already spread elsewhere in the body.
Pros and Cons of RALRP
The pro regarding robot-assisted surgery is the precision that can be achieved on the operating table. Human efforts during surgery cannot always compete with technological advances. However, just as with some of the other treatment options mentioned, this treatment also has the downsides of urinary and sexual problems. But they are not long-term problems, if they do develop.
Tags: Pros Cons, cancer site, healthy cells, hormone therapy, cancer cells, cells tissue
