Prostate Cancer Side Effects

Patients who have advanced prostate cancer have experienced many side effects that have resulted from the various treatments they have undergone to try and stop the spread of the cancer. There are also prostate cancer side effects that have resulted from the very disease itself. It is normal to be afraid of side effects but if you understand them it will help to relieve your fears and also help you to cope with the disease better.

How to cope:
One of the best ways to go about it is to ask your personal doctor questions. This will help you to learn all about the symptoms, prostate cancer side effects and other options before undergoing a particular treatment. It is important to weigh the pros and cons of each option after getting all the information from your doctor.

Some of the common prostate cancer side effects are:

• Impotence:
This is a major side effect seen in most of the advanced prostate cancer treatments. 90% of those who have undergone orchiectomy (removal of the testicles by surgery) have experienced impotence. Some patients regain erections with no assistance in time, while others seek treatment that range from oral medicines, penis implants etc. These options have to be discussed with your doctor before you choose to undergo this type of treatment.

• Incontinence:
This is one of the prostate cancer side effects that results from prostate cancer surgery and radiation therapy. Incontinence is the inability to control the flow of urine. In these cases too, patients do regain control eventually. Kegel exercises to strengthen the pelvic muscles and sphincter can be done to regain urinary flow control. Biofeedback, a training program, and medications help in relieving incontinence. Once again it is essential to discuss with your doctor.

• Infertility:
It is a known fact that many treatments for prostate cancer results in infertility. Techniques to preserve fertility should be done before the prostate cancer treatment. This is one of the prostate cancer side effects that should be discussed with your doctor well in advance before you undergo any type of treatment.
• Prostate cancer pain and weak bones:
This type of cancer usually spreads to the bones and is called bone metastasis. This condition results in pain and weakness. This is one of the prostate cancer side effects that can make you fracture-prone. There are treatments that can relieve you of the pain and support the bones that are weak:
Bisphosphonates are drugs that help to reduce fractures resulting from bone metastases.
Radiation is also used to reduce bone pain. This involves External Beam Radiation Therapy which can be used in place of surgery. Lesions on bones can be treated in this way especially if the lesions are located in a particular area. Brachytherapy (implantation of tiny radioactive seeds into the prostate gland) is also used to treat to treat prostate cancer. Radioisotope is administered by injection and targets the cancer in the bone.

An important factor to understand about prostate cancer side effects is that you have to consider all the options of a particular treatment or definitive therapy. If you consider undergoing surgery you have to know that one of the prostate cancer side effects is erectile dysfunction and nerve-sparing technique may not be the ideal option for men who have tumors that are located close to the nerves.