If Treatment Does Not Work
Recovery from cancer is not always possible. If the cancer cannot be cured or controlled, the disease may be called advanced or terminal.
This diagnosis is stressful, and for some people, advanced cancer may be difficult to discuss. However, it is important to have open and honest conversations with your health care team to express your feelings, preferences, and concerns. The health care team has special skills, experience, and knowledge to support patients and their families and is there to help. Making sure a person is physically comfortable, free from pain, and emotionally supported is extremely important.
People who have advanced cancer and who are expected to live less than 6 months may want to consider hospice care. Hospice care is designed to provide the best possible quality of life for people who are near the end of life. You and your family are encouraged to talk with the health care team about hospice care options, which include hospice care at home, a special hospice center, or other health care locations. Nursing care and special equipment, including a hospital bed, can make staying at home a workable option for many families. Learn more about advanced cancer care planning.
After the death of a loved one, many people need support to help them cope with the loss. Learn more about grief and loss.
Physical Emotional And Social Effects Of Cancer
Cancer and its treatment cause physical symptoms and side effects, as well as emotional, social, and financial effects. Managing all of these effects is called palliative care or supportive care. It is an important part of your care that is included along with treatments intended to slow, stop, or eliminate the cancer.
Palliative care focuses on improving how you feel during treatment by managing symptoms and supporting patients and their families with other, non-medical needs. Any person, regardless of age or type and stage of cancer, may receive this type of care. And it often works best when it is started right after a cancer diagnosis. People who receive palliative care along with treatment for the cancer often have less severe symptoms, better quality of life, and report that they are more satisfied with treatment.
Palliative treatments vary widely and often include medication, nutritional changes, relaxation techniques, emotional and spiritual support, and other therapies. You may also receive palliative treatments similar to those meant to get rid of the cancer, such as chemotherapy, surgery, or radiation therapy.
Learn more about the importance of tracking side effects in another part of this guide. Learn more about palliative care in a separate section of this website.
What Will Happen After Treatment
Youll be glad when treatment is over. But its hard not to worry about cancer coming back. When cancer comes back it is called a recurrence. Even when cancer never comes back, people still worry about it. For years after treatment ends, you will see your cancer doctor. At first, your visits may be every few months. Then, the longer youre cancer-free, the less often the visits are needed.
Be sure to go to all follow-up visits. Your doctors will ask about your symptoms, examine you, and might order blood tests and maybe other tests to see if the cancer has come back.
Having cancer and dealing with treatment can be hard, but it can also be a time to look at your life in new ways. You might be thinking about how to improve your health. Call us at 1-800-227-2345 or talk to your doctor to find out what you can do to feel better.
You cant change the fact that you have cancer. What you can change is how you live the rest of your life, making healthy choices and feeling as good as you can.
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The Ajcc Tnm Staging System
A staging system is a standard way for the cancer care team to describe how far a cancer has spread. The most widely used staging system for prostate cancer is the AJCC TNM system, which was most recently updated in 2018.
The TNM system for prostate cancer is based on 5 key pieces of information:
- The extent of the main tumor *
- Whether the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes
- Whether the cancer has spread to other parts of the body
- The PSA level at the time of diagnosis
- The Grade Group , which is a measure of how likely the cancer is to grow and spread quickly. This is determined by the results of the prostate biopsy .
*There are 2 types of T categories for prostate cancer:
- The clinical T category is your doctors best estimate of the extent of your disease, based on the results of the physical exam and prostate biopsy, and any imaging tests you have had.
- If you have surgery to remove your prostate, your doctors can also determine the pathologic T category . The pathologic T is likely to be more accurate than the clinical T, as it is done after all of your prostate has been examined in the lab.
Numbers or letters after T, N, and M provide more details about each of these factors. Higher numbers mean the cancer is more advanced. Once the T, N, and M categories have been determined, this information is combined in a process called stage grouping to get the overall stage of the cancer.
Look For These Symptoms
We encourage all our male patients, particularly those over the age of 50, to be aware of potential dysfunction of their prostate gland. Be aware of:
- trouble urinating
- general pain in the lower back, hips or thighs
- pain when urinating
- pain when ejaculating
If you should experience any of these, you should schedule an appointment with one of our practitioners immediately.
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Compounds Inhibiting The Growth Of Prostate Cancer Cells
Andrographolide is a diterpenoid lactone derived from a traditional Chinese medicine plant Andrographis paniculata Nees. Chun et al. demonstrated that andrographolide could inhibit IL-6-induced signaling and induce signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 and the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases . Meanwhile, it could inhibit cell viability and induce apoptosis of PC3 and DU145 prostate cancer cell lines. Moreover, andrographolide suppressed tumor growth in a mouse xenograft model with castration-resistant DU145 cell-derived human prostate tumors. These findings imply that andrographolide could be developed as a therapeutic agent to treat prostate cancer .
Evodiamine is isolated from the Chinese herbal medicine Evodia rutaecarpa Benth. Recent results showed that evodiamine suppressed the growth of LNCaP cells in a dose-dependent manner by arresting the cell cycle at the G2/M phase and inducing apoptosis .
Guttiferone F could induce apoptosis of LNCaP and PC3 prostate cancer cells under serum starvation via JNK activation and Ca2+ elevation, respectively. Furthermore, it exerted a significant growth inhibition on PC3 cells xenografts in vivo at a dose of 20 mg/kg .
Peperotetraphin is a novel cyclobutane-type norlignan isolated from the whole plant of Peperomia tetraphylla . Peperotetraphin inhibited the growth of PC-3 cells and induced cancer cells to undergo G1 phase arrest and apoptosis .
What Is The Outlook
No cure is available for stage 4 prostate cancer. Your healthcare team will work with you to help control the cancer for as long as possible while maintaining a good quality of life.
Your outlook will depend on how fast the cancer is spreading and how well you respond to therapies.
With treatment, you can live for many years with metastatic prostate cancer.
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Herbal Extracts For Prostate Cancer
Like our recommendation for dietary supplements, we do not recommend that you take herbal supplements by themselves if you have prostate cancer because the contents of these supplements can interfere with your treatments or medications.
Herbal supplements are a natural treatment for prostate cancer although there is no current study that gives it the credit that it can cure nor can it prevent prostate cancer. The only possible potency of these herbal supplements is lowering your risk of developing prostate cancer.
However, due to several studies that support the benefits of herbal supplements in treating prostate cancer, more people now have chosen to include herbal supplements on their treatment plan. You need to be careful though, because negative interaction between medicinal properties may be dangerous to your health. For instance, the plant named St. Johns wort can negatively impact the liver by igniting the cytochrome P450 enzymes that metabolize drugs.
Subject to your doctors supervision, here are some notable plants that are considered natural remedies for prostate cancer:
Saw Palmetto
Pomegranate
According to a study conducted by UCLA, men who drank an 8-ounce glass of Pomegranate juice a day had slowed down the increase of their PSA levels. When your PSA levels are kept to a minimum, you dont need a treatment involving synthetic medications that can potentially block your testosterone which can lead to bone loss and sexual dysfunction.
Other foods
- Zi-Shen Pill
How Does The Doctor Know I Have Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer tends to grow slowly over many years. Most men with early prostate cancer dont have changes that they notice. Signs of prostate cancer most often show up later, as the cancer grows.
Some signs of prostate cancer are trouble peeing, blood in the pee , trouble getting an erection, and pain in the back, hips, ribs, or other bones.
If signs are pointing to prostate cancer, tests will be done. Most men will not need all of them, but here are some of the tests you may need:
PSA blood test: PSA is a protein thats made by the prostate gland and can be found in the blood. Prostate cancer can make PSA levels go up. Blood tests will be done to see what your PSA level is and how it changes over time.
Transrectal ultrasound : For this test, a small wand is put into your rectum. It gives off sound waves and picks up the echoes as they bounce off the prostate gland. The echoes are made into a picture on a computer screen.
MRI: This test uses radio waves and strong magnets to make detailed pictures of the body. MRI scans can be used to look at the prostate and can show if the cancer has spread outside the prostate to nearby organs.
Prostate biopsy: For a prostate biopsy, the doctor uses a long, hollow needle to take out small pieces of the prostate where the cancer might be. This is often done while using TRUS or MRI to look at the prostate. The prostate pieces are then checked for cancer cells. Ask the doctor what kind of biopsy you need and how its done.
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Comprehensive Integrative Cancer Care
Anatara Medicine is one of the most advanced multidisciplinary Integrative cancer centers in the world specializing in cancer stages I through IV. We offer a unique, comprehensive, individualized approach to cancer.
We seek to use non-invasive integrative cancer treatments to vigorously attack the cancer, while also protecting your body from the toxic side effects of conventional treatment. Our approach strengthens every bodily system, increases cellular energy, bolsters your immune system and provides your body with everything it needs to fight disease and restore health and wellness.
As recognized leaders in alternative cancer treatment and prevention, we continue to pioneer novel approaches to cancer care. We are excited to provide you with the most comprehensive, technologically advanced, and scientifically based cancer therapies available.
Should I Use Supplements Or Herbal Remedies
Some people like to use dietary supplements or herbal remedies, but theres little evidence theyre helpful for men with prostate cancer. Some may even be harmful.
Dietary supplements
Theres little evidence that supplements are helpful for men with prostate cancer. Some supplements may interfere with your treatment for prostate cancer, so let your doctor or nurse know if youre taking any.
Most people should be able to get all the nutrients they need by eating a balanced diet, without taking supplements. If you do choose to take supplements, dont take more than the recommended daily allowance for each nutrient because large doses could be bad for your health.
Some men may need to take specific supplements. For example,
- Vitamin D. Between October and March, try to take 10 micrograms of vitamin D supplements every day. This is because during these months, there is not enough sunlight in the UK for your body to produce enough vitamin D.
- Calcium. If youre on hormone therapy, your doctor might recommend calcium supplements.
Herbal remedies
Some men like to take herbal medicines to help manage their prostate cancer or the side effects of treatment. For example, some men drink sage tea to help with hot flushes. But there is very little evidence that herbal remedies can help to treat prostate cancer or reduce side effects.
Herbal supplements being tested
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What Is A 5
A relative survival rate compares people with the same type and stage of cancer to people in the overall population. For example, if the 5-year relative survival rate for a specific stage of prostate cancer is 90%, it means that men who have that cancer are, on average, about 90% as likely as men who dont have that cancer to live for at least 5 years after being diagnosed.
Essential Oils For Prostate Cancer
Essential oils are plant extracts from aromatic plants that process to become oils that can be inhaled through a diffuser or directly through an inhaler. They can also be applied topically when necessary.
As to the role they play in treating prostate cancer, there is no specific study that tackles essential oils concerning such a disease. However, there is tangible evidence that supports the fact that essential oils can reduce anxiety, stress, and cancer treatment side effects.
How do essential oils reduce stress and anxiety? Essential oils can largely impact the brains emotional or sensory system and be able to relieve pain due to their anti-inflammatory properties. They are also widely used in massages, which is another form of complementary medicine in relieving pain and reducing stress.
The National Center for Biotechnology Information also cited the antimicrobial activity present in essential oil. In a vast range of mechanisms of action, cytotoxicity and cancer cell prevention were exhibited. Essential oils target cancer cells that have also been proven alongside their ability to increase the effectiveness of commonly administered chemotherapy drugs like docetaxel and paclitaxel.
What are the recommended essential oils that can potentially aid in treating prostate cancer?
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Gleason Score Vs Grade Groups
The International Society of Urological Pathology released a revised prostate cancer grading system in 2014. The grade group system seeks to simplify Gleason scores and give a more accurate diagnosis.
One of the major problems with the Gleason score is that some scores can be made up in different ways. For example, a score of 7 can mean:
- 3 + 4. The 3 pattern is the most common in the biopsy and 4 is the second most common. This pattern is considered favorable intermediate risk.
- 4 + 3. The 4 pattern is the most common in the biopsy and 3 is the second most common. This pattern is considered unfavorable and may mean local or metastatic spread.
So, although both situations give a Gleason score of 7, they actually have very different prognoses.
Heres an overview of how the two grading systems compare:
| Cancer grade | |
|---|---|
| grade group 5 | 910 |
Not all hospitals have switched to the grade group system. Many hospitals give both grade group and Gleason scores to avoid confusion until grade groups become more widely used.
Stages Of Prostate Cancer
|
Any T, any N, M1 Any Grade Group Any PSA |
The cancer might or might not be growing into tissues near the prostate and might or might not have spread to nearby lymph nodes . It has spread to other parts of the body, such as distant lymph nodes, bones, or other organs . The Grade Group can be any value, and the PSA can be any value. |
Prostate cancer staging can be complex. If you have any questions about your stage, please ask someone on your cancer care team to explain it to you in a way you understand.
While the stage of a prostate cancer can help give an idea of how serious the cancer is likely to be, doctors are now looking for other ways to tell how likely a prostate cancer is to grow and spread, which might also help determine a mans best treatment options.
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What Are The Stages Of Prostate Cancer
Your healthcare provider uses the Gleason score and Grade Groups to stage prostate cancer based on its projected aggressiveness. To get this information, the pathologist:
- Assigns a grade to each type of cell in your sample. Cells are graded on a scale of three to five . Samples that test in the one to two range are considered normal tissue.
- Adds together the two most common grades to get your Gleason score .
- Uses the Gleason score to place you into a Grade Group ranging from one to five. A Gleason score of six puts you in Grade Group 1 . A score of nine or higher puts you in Grade Group five . Samples with a higher portion of more aggressive cells receive a higher Grade Group.
Side Effects Of Targeted Therapy
Some men may experience side effects such as diarrhea, nausea and low red blood cell counts. Other possible side effects include:
Liver blood tests may also be abnormal.
One of the targeted therapies for prostate cancer, Lynparza® , may increase the risk for blood clots in the lungs and legs. These drugs may also cause a blood cancer such as myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myeloid leukemia, but this is rare.
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