A higher PSAV indicates greater likelihood of cancer being present. For instance, if initial treatment was prostatectomy, salvage therapy may involve radiation therapy. Examinations and tests done after cancer has recurred, to help in choosing additional treatments. A strategy for hormonal therapy in which the patient's response to one treatment is used to determine whether other treatments are needed. For example, if a patient is receiving a LHRH agonist and his PSA levels begin to rise, an antiandrogen drug may be added.
Pain medication is an example of supportive care.
The male reproductive glands found in the scrotum. The main male hormone, made primarily in the testes. It stimulates blood flow, growth in certain tissues, and the secondary sexual characteristics. In men with prostate cancer, it can also encourage growth of the tumor. This treatment uses sophisticated computers to very precisely map the location of the cancer within the prostate.