Is Radiotherapy the right treatment for me?
Radiotherapy for localised prostate cancer
Radiotherapy is frequently used to treat localised prostate cancer. Localised prostate cancer means the cancer cells have not spread beyond your prostate into the rest of your body. Radiotherapy may be a good choice if:
- You are not well enough for surgery or have complications which make surgery too high risk for you
- You are not keen on the idea of surgery but want to have active treatment
- Your stage and grade of prostate cancer means radiotherapy is the best treatment choice for you
Radiotherapy for locally advanced prostate cancer
Radiotherapy is also used to treat locally advanced prostate cancer. This means the prostate cancer has started to spread from the prostate into nearby tissues, but has not spread to other parts of the body. In December 2011, a major study showed how radiotherapy combined with hormone therapy can almost halve deaths from locally advanced prostate cancer.
Radiotherapy for advanced prostate cancer
Radiotherapy is also used to treat bone pain caused by advanced prostate cancer. This is called palliative radiotherapy, which means it is not possible to eradicate all the cancer cells, but the treatment will help to reduce the symptoms you are experiencing. Palliative radiotherapy can help to relieve bone pain, reduce blood in the urine and discomfort from lymph nodes. The treatment usually has few or no side-effects. Radiotherapy can also help treat a condition called Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression (MSCC) – where cancer cells spread to the bones of the spine (vertebrae) and press on the spinal cord – and usually has few side-effects.
Choosing radiotherapy for prostate cancer
It is advised that if you are interested in exploring radiotherapy as a possible treatment option, you should see an oncologist. Treatment pathways vary from one area to another and many men are not offered an appointment with an oncologist, but you are entitled to ask for one in order to consider a different opinion and ask about relative advantages and disadvantages of each treatment approach. The Birmingham Prostate Clinic welcomes patients seeking a second opinion and is supportive of patients who wish to actively research different treatment options.
Where would I have my radiotherapy for prostate cancer?
You can choose the location of your radiotherapy treatment with Birmingham Prostate Clinic. You can receive your treatment either at one of GenesisCare’s 14 centres throughout the UK including Birmingham and Oxford or at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. At GenesisCare patients have access to world-class cancer care and will experience advanced treatments as standard and personalised care tailored to their needs.
