Impotence and incontinence are common. Cryosurgery is an effective alternative medical treatment that is far less invasive and just as effective as a radical prostatectomy. Hyperthermia , the opposite of cryosurgery, is utilized separately and in conjunction with radiation. No one knows quite how heat kills cancer. Some authorities argue that the heat damages the blood vessels leading to cancerous cells, without affecting normal cells, or that it kills the cancer cells weakened by radiation.
Chemotherapy uses powerful drugs to kill cancer cells.
But the drugs don't specifically target cancer cells. Instead, they look for any rapidly growing cell. Cancer cells grow rapidly, but so do hair cells, cells lining the stomach, cells of the immune system, and cells in the bones. They, too, are killed by chemotherapy, causing a host of terrible side effects. Watchful waiting has the benefit of not assaulting the body, but it does nothing to stimulate the body's defenses.