CHT does not add substantial side effects to radiation therapy alone. Symptoms may not be present even in advanced prostate cancer. The goal of treating advanced prostate cancer is to slow further growth of the disease, even before symptoms begin. Slowing the growth will delay the onset of symptoms or drastically reduce their severity. Hormonal therapy is usually used for slowing the spread of prostate cancer.
Most testosterone is made in the testes.
With partial hormonal therapy, testes stop producing testosterone. When men take estrogen their testosterone levels fall. However, the use of estrogens is limited due to their many side effects. Orchiectomy is also known as surgical castration, which is the removal of the testicles by surgery. Without testicles, the main source of male hormones is absent, which slows the growth of the tumor.