However, hormone therapy is also associated with hot flashes, a loss of sex drive, and a loss of sexual capacity. When deciding which form of hormone is best, the patient must consider the cost of the treatment, its known effectiveness and safety, and its likely impact on quality of life. Some forms of chemotherapy, the use of anti-cancer drugs, may be employed for patients with advanced disease and for whom hormone therapy has failed. In the past it was thought that chemotherapy would do little good, but with earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer, patients are often not as sick when they reach the point of qualifying for this treatment, which can reduce pain and other symptoms of advanced disease, curb tumor growth and increase survival time. Common side effects of chemotherapy are nausea and vomiting, hair loss, anemia, and greater chances of infections and mouth sores.
Side effects vary among individuals, but most side effects disappear after treatment stops.
The advice of one or more medical oncologists should be sought by patients considering chemotherapy after other forms of treatment have failed. Patients for whom the disease has been eradicated will have no detectable PSA in their blood. Also performed at regular intervals to check for recurrence or spread of cancer are X-rays, bone scans and blood tests. Prostascint is a monoclonal antibody which, after being administered to the patient via intravenous infusion, locates and attaches to an antigen found on malignant tumors, no matter where they are located in the body. The Prostascint antibody contains an imaging isotope that emits rays detectable by an external gamma camera.