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When prostate cancer moves out of the prostate gland and extended into other areas of the body it is classed as advanced prostate cancer and treatment is far more difficult than when the disease is limited to the prostate gland. Providing your cancer has not spread too widely and is not too aggressive it is still possible not simply to treat the condition but in fact to cure it. In many cases however where the disease is widespread, or is too aggressive, treatment is a matter of simply slowing the progress of the disease and providing you with the best quality of life possible. Nowadays one of the chief treatments for advanced prostate cancer is chemotherapy often using a drug called docetaxal. Docetaxal is a very effective drug for a lot of people and does indeed hold back the progress of prostate cancer and extend life for many people. Nevertheless, it does have various side effects which include such things as nausea, loss of appetite, hair loss and a greater risk of infection. As a result it is here that we run into one of the biggest problems in treating advanced prostate cancer. If you are dealing with a condition which cannot be cured and which will kill you sooner or later, then lengthening your life by slowing down the progress of the cancer is fine provided that treatment gives you an acceptable quality of life and does not leave you feeling that the treatment is worse than the cancer itself. For many prostate cancer patients, who are frequently in their 60s, 70s or even 80s, chemotherapy is far from pleasant but is a price that is worth paying when they first begin their treatment. However, as the treatment progresses and the side effects begin to come into play the picture often changes and a lot of patients start to ask whether it is all worth it. Naturally this is never a simple question to answer and has to be the subject of a discussion between yourself, your family and your physician. Many of us will be familiar with this scenario either as a result of our own experience of illness or through our experience of seeing a family member of close friend in this situation and will know only too well just how hard a time it can be. Now, however, there may be a little light at the end of this tunnel as studies involving a sizeable group of patients with metastatic, androgen-independent prostate cancer show that a lot of people might be able to take a 'chemo holiday' without significant harm to their treatment. In other words, after several weeks of chemo, and when the side effects are beginning to pull you down, you might be able to stop your chemotherapy for a time and let your body recover a bit before going on with your treatment. Now it is of course early days yet and nobody is exactly certain yet precisely how long your 'chemo holidays' might be or how often you can take them, but for many advanced prostate cancer patients this apparently small advance in treatment may well make a world of difference.
Article Source: http://blisspublisher.com
ProstateProblemCenter.com provides information on a wide variety of prostate problems including such things as the therapeutic use of prostate milking
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