If a mechanic told you the brakes on your car were failing, would you risk an accident by waiting to fix them?
If the air conditioning system in your home were leaking or blowing hot air only, would you suffer through heat or take care of it right away?
Or if your dentist told you that you had a cavity, would you fill it or wait until you got an infection or needed a root canal before you did anything?
If you wouldn’t wait to fix any of those problems, why would you not treat prostate cancer if you knew you had it?
That’s the question you must ask yourself when deciding whether to treat prostate cancer or take one of the ‘waiting and watching’ approaches.
Dangers of Watching & Waiting or Active Surveillance
‘Waiting and watching’ means you would opt not to treat the cancer, but instead to observe your body for any symptoms like pain. And if you notice a change, you’d tell your doctor.
You could also take the slightly more aggressive approach called “active surveillance,” meaning you undergo routine testing like biopsies, imaging tests, prostate-specific antigen or PSA blood tests, and digital rectal exams to track the cancer’s growth.
Either of these wait-and-see approaches may be right for a very specific type of prostate cancer patient, like one who is too old or too sick to benefit from treatment.
However, it’s important to note that invasive and repeated biopsies also come with certain risks including infection, bleeding and trouble urinating.
And consider this: Even if you’re told your cancer is slow-growing and localized, there are still risks of not treating the disease. After a biopsy, a man may be initially placed in the low-risk category. But when he opts for surgery, additional testing may reveal the cancer was more aggressive than the biopsy reported. That could mean that the wait-and-see approach could be downright dangerous for some men.
Treatment vs. Watchful Waiting: What the Studies Say
A few studies have compared watchful waiting to surgery for early-stage prostate cancer. Some showed men who had surgery lived longer. Others found survival between the two groups was equal, according to the American Cancer Society,
When looking at active surveillance compared to treatment with radiation, men who had radiation may not necessarily live longer, but the cancer doesn’t spread, and it may even stay in remission longer.
Early Prostate Cancer Treatment
Except for skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men, according to the American Cancer Society. Sixty percent of cases are diagnosed in men older than 65.
About 84% of prostate cancers are found in the early stage when the cancer is localized in the prostate or spreads to nearby organs. The five-year survival rate for these prostate cancers is close to 100%. As the cancer spreads to other parts of the body the five-year survival rate drops to 31%.
That’s the reason the experts at the CyberKnife Center of Miami, the premier radiation cancer treatment center in South Florida, say: “Why wait?”
And if you’re going to be treated, consider radiation with CyberKnife.
How CyberKnife Works
CyberKnife is not a knife at all. It’s targeted radiation therapy that kills prostate cancer while reducing the risk of unwanted side effects from treatments like surgery or traditional radiation because it’s so precise.
The side effects of traditional treatments can be life-changing, according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. They can interfere with urinary, bowel and sexual function.
With CyberKnife because of its precision, there are minimal side effects, which may include tiredness, and urinary and rectal irritation. Medication can help minimize these, and they usually go away in a few weeks.
There is also a lower risk of toxicity than with traditional radiation.
Since the radiation from CyberKnife focuses directly on the tumor, there is less risk of burning the anus or testicles. There is also a reduced risk of impotence and urinary incontinence. And sexual function remains the same for most patients after treatment.
Prostate Cancer Treatment Near Me
Most patients tolerate CyberKnife treatment very well. Plus, CyberKnife has a very high success rate treating prostate cancer, according to CyberKnife Miami, about 95% when detected early.
Worldwide hundreds of thousands of patients have been treated for prostate cancer using the CyberKnife technology.
If you would like to find out more about prostate cancer treatment with CyberKnife, call us at 305-279-2900 or go to our prostate cancer website now for more information.