Many people who are suffering from prostate cancer are unaware of the new prostate treatments available to them. And, after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, they might be too overwhelmed to even begin to think about their treatment options. However, once they begin to do a little research, and explore all of the possibilities, they will begin to see that there are many new and innovative prostate treatments available that can help them combat this condition.

Traditional Treatments

When a patient receives a prostate cancer diagnosis, the first treatments they probably think of are the traditional ones, which include surgery and radiation therapy. In fact, these are the treatments many doctors will recommend first, despite their negative aspects.

For example, surgery is a common treatment for cancer. However, the more invasive surgeries for prostate cancer can have some unpleasant side effects. In one surgical procedure, nerves are cut in order to reach the area being affected by the cancer. While this surgery is often successful treatment against the cancer, the nerves that are cut effect erection. And, since these nerves do not grow back, many patients who undergo this procedure will become impotent. And, while doctors are trying to find ways to treat this unfortunate side effect of the surgery, no real solution has been found just yet, although there is a relatively new treatment called "nerve sparing surgery," where the surgeon makes an attempt to manually avoid the nerves responsible for erection.

Radiation therapy can also be successful in treating cancer. However, it also affects the rest of the body in negative ways, which can leave patients feeling sick and weak most of the time, including such undesirable side effects as urinary incontinence.

Considering the negative aspects of traditional treatments, it’s no wonder many doctors and patients are looking at new prostate treatments.

New Prostate Treatments

Many of the new prostate treatments are less invasive than more traditional methods, and also have fewer negative effects on the patient’s body. For example, robotic laparoscopic surgery involves using a laser to make small incisions to get to the areas affected by the cancer. This procedure is faster than traditional surgery, and has fewer negative side effects. Patients also recover much faster, and don’t have to stay in the hospital as long.

Seed therapy is a form of radiation treatment that focusing the radiation directly at the spot affected by the cancer. As a result, the body isn’t affected by the radiation in the same way, so the patient won’t generally feel as sick or weak as they would with traditional radiation therapy.

These two procedures are the newest prostate treatments that are available to most patients, however, there are a few in the works that are still in the preliminary stages. Examples are newer computers that allow more precision in radiation therapy, and High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, now available in some parts of Europe.

Being diagnosed with prostate cancer can be a frightening experience. But, thanks to the new prostate treatments available, the prognosis for patients suffering from this condition looks brighter than ever.