At this point, further down the treatment trail is chemotherapy. In the past, toxins haven't been very effective in knocking out prostate cancer, but new progress is being reported. The surgical removal of the prostate, a radical prostatectomy, is the most common treatment for early stage prostate cancer. The patient must weigh his chance for a cure against incontinence and impotence. The operation usually requires several days in the hospital and weeks of recuperation.
Patients have varying experiences.
J. William Gadzuk, of Potomac, Md., a physicist for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, had the operation nearly four years ago at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, one of the pioneering institutions for prostate surgery. I didn't have a lot of discomfort or a lot of pain. However, Gadzuk said he was left with sexual dysfunction, even though Johns Hopkins surgeons have developed a technique to protect the erection nerves near the gland. There is little or no pain associated with radiation. However, impotence, incontinence and even bowel scarring are possible side effects.