One of my dearest online friends was just diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. He is being treated with hormones to keep the cancer form growing . He is 60,very fit and otherwise healthy. How much time does he have? Are there any other treatments besides hormones? I feel so bad for him,he is a wonderful person. :(
Cancer - 2 Answers
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1 :
Prostate cancer survival rates after diagnosis are close to 100%....it is very uncommon for the disease to develop in younger men, and is typically so slow-growing that many patients die of "old age" before the cancer can kill them! That said, it can still be a very "inconvenient" disease with very unpleasant side-effects, so based on the patient's life-style & expectations there are all sorts of treatment options...much will depend on whether your friend is still sexually-active, and how much that means to his "quality of life"....
2 :
Sorry to say there is no cure for advanced prostate cancer. The average life expectancy is 2 to 3 years with treatment. Very aggressive forms of the disease can be fatal within a year after diagnosis. The usual treatment is hormone treatment which blocks or stops testosterone production and may be effective a year or more. Chemotherapy usually is given after hormone therapy has failed and has about a 6 week increase in life and expectancy on average. Radiation may be used to slow down bone tumors. Provenge a new treatment that helps to activate the immune system has shown to give about four months increase in life expectancy for a cost of over $100,000. Bisphosphonates are given to slow bone deterioration. I have had all of the above treatments and am in pain most of the time. It has been less than 2 years since diagnosed and I was one who had yearly checks for the disease with no close relative to blame inheritance. In 2010 over 32,000 men in the USA will die of the disease.
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