One in nine men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime.
Deciding how to treat it can be tricky. In some cases, your doctor may recommend not treating it, but rather watch and wait, depending on its stage at diagnosis, how aggressive it’s determined to be and a patient’s age. Prostate cancer sometimes can be a very slow-moving cancer and not require treatment.
Stages of Prostate Cancer
Most people are familiar with cancer being classified at a stage between 0 and 5. This is to identify how far the disease has spread when diagnosed, with stage 0 meaning the cancer is contained to the area or organ in which it was discovered and stage 5 cancer indicating it has spread to other areas of the body. Staging is used to determine a treatment plan.
Prostate cancer uses a different technique, the TNM system. This type of staging considers qualities about the cancer such as whether it is likely to spread. It is based primarily on information about:
- Tumor – the location and size of the tumor
- Node – the amount and location of spread into the lymph nodes
- Metastasis – the amount and location of spread to other parts of the body
Numbers between 0 and 5 are then assigned to each of the above. For example, T1, N0, M0 would indicate the tumor can’t be felt digitally or seen on imaging tests (it may have been discovered during a needle biopsy or a surgical procedure) and that it hasn’t spread to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body.
Better Prostate Cancer Treatments
Prostate cancer treatments have improved over the years and now can be treated in 5 radiation therapy sessions over 10 days with CyberKnife technology .
The CyberKnife system employs the most advanced missile guided technology, which continuously tracks the slightest movement of a tumor as the patient breathes while undergoing treatment. That results in destroying only the tumor without harming nearby healthy tissue.
This robotic system delivers such precise beams of radiation that fewer radiation sessions are needed over a shorter period of time. Unlike traditional radiation therapy that require 3 months to complete and up to 45 radiation sessions, CyberKnife can effectively treat your prostate cancer with just a handful of sessions performed over a two-week period.
CyberKnife is non-invasive, painless and boasts a 97.3% rate of success.
You merely lay back, relaxing, while the robotic delivery system rotates around you without ever touching your skin.
Side effects including erectile dysfunction (ED) or incontinence are extremely rare, unlike traditional radiation therapy.
Your Outlook With Prostate Cancer
Some patients tell horror stories about the side effects from traditional radiation therapy and surgery for prostate cancer. Not so for patients who chose CyberKnife.
To learn more call the Prostate Cancer Experts and Radiation Oncologists at the CyberKnife Center of Miami