So even after the testicles have been removed, a man suffering from prostate cancer must still take medicines to block the flow of testosterone from the adrenal glands. Another approach, which allows men to keep their testicles, is to use powerful drugs to block the flow of testosterone. Whether a man keeps his testicles or not, hormone therapy deprives him of his usual testosterone. This slows the cancer somewhat, but has unpleasant side effects and undesirable psychological consequences. Men find themselves unable to get or keep erections, they lose muscle mass and gain breast tissue, and they suffer from fatigue hot flashes, reduced brain function, and other problems.
Hormone therapy can be a helpful temporary measure to arrest or shrink the cancer.
Although surgery, radiation, and hormone therapy are the medical system's favored approaches to treating prostate cancer, there are others. It is still considered to be an experimental procedure by many authorities. 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.