My father was just diagnosed with Prostate cancer and since he doesn't have access to a computer it's up to me(son) to try and get some information I can give to him. Unfortunately we are dealing with the VA so our options aren't too good I suspect. He was told that he has a PSA 0f 30 and 85% in the right and 20% in the left with a Gleason score of 7 in right and 6 in left and needs further testing but believed to be stage 3. The doctor informed him that his only option is Hormone treatment with Radiation, but everything I've read says that Hormone will not cure the prostate cancer. Is this really his only option? Why not remove the Prostate or Beads as I've seen? Is this procedure really only buying him some time and not taking care of the problem? Thank you for any help.
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Prostate treatment options?
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The problems with malignant cancers is that they metastasise - cells break off the main tumour and lodge elsewhere in the body, where they form secondary tumours of the same tissue. It's these that usually kill the person, but you don't know where they all are, because most of them will be microscopic in size. That's why in an advanced cancer surgery doesn't stop it.Hormone treatment does not kill the cancer but it does make the tumours grow more slowly, giving you more time - at least of useful life, and perhaps more time for other treatment (radiation, chemotherapy) to work.Unfortunately many cancers can't be cured, and extra time is the best that can often be achieved. In a sense, all we ever get is extra time - none of us will live forever.