With laser therapy, these risks also are minimal, although it may take longer to regain urinary flow after laser treatment. Prostate cancer specialists recommend the appropriate treatment for an individual based on the type of prostate cancer, the degree to which the cancer has spread, the patient's age, his general state of health and any prior prostate cancer treatment he may have had. Surgical treatment for prostate cancer involves removing the entire prostate, a procedure called radical prostatectomy. Hormone therapy alters the body's hormone balance to inhibit prostate cancer from growing. This may be accomplished with drugs that alter the way hormones work or with surgery that removes hormone-producing organs such as the testes.
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells.
These drugs may be taken orally or injected into a vein. Chemotherapy is a systemic treatment, meaning the drugs enter the bloodstream, travel through the body, and can kill cancer cells anywhere in the body. Although each of the procedures described can be an effective treatment for prostate cancer, each man's prostate cancer is unique and requires individualized treatment. The appropriate therapy or combination of therapies for each patient is best determined by a team of specialists at the time of diagnosis. The degree of sexual function after radical prostatectomy is determined by many factors.