Advanced Prostate Cancer Patients Could Soon Be Able To Have A Chemotherapy Break

By: Donald Saunders
Submitted: 2008-05-27 13:38:56
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When prostate cancer moves out of the prostate gland and reached into other areas of your body it is referred to as advanced prostate cancer and treatment is far more difficult than when cancer is confined to the prostate.

Where your cancer has not spread too widely and is not too aggressive it is possible not just to treat it but in fact to cure it. But, in many cases where cancer is widespread, or is particularly aggressive, treatment is a case of simply holding back the progression of the disease and providing you with the best quality of life possible.

Today one of the principle treatments for advanced prostate cancer is intravenous chemotherapy often using a drug called docetaxal. This is a particularly effective drug for many people and does indeed hold back the progression of advanced prostate cancer and extend life for many people. However, it is not without some side effects which include things like nausea, hair loss, loss of appetite and a heightened risk of infection. Consequently it is here that we come across one of the biggest difficulties in advanced prostate cancer treatment.

Where you are dealing with a disease which cannot be cured and which will eventually kill you, then lengthening your life by slowing down the progress of the cancer is good provided that treatment gives you a reasonable quality of life and does not leave you feeling that the treatment is worse than the condition itself.

For a significant number of prostate cancer sufferers, who are frequently in their 60s or older, chemotherapy is not exactly pleasant but is a price worth paying when they initially start their course of treatment. But, as time goes by and the side effects start to come into play the picture often alters and many patients begin to question whether or not it is all worth it. Of course this is never a simple question to answer and must be the subject of a discussion between yourself, your family and your physician.

A lot of us are familiar with this picture either as a result of our own personal experience of illness or as a result of our experience of seeing family members of close friends in this situation and know well just how hard a time it can be.

There may however be a little light at the end of this tunnel because studies involving a sizeable group of patients with metastatic, androgen-independent prostate cancer suggest that many people might be able to take a 'chemo holiday' without significant damage to their treatment. Put another way, after a number of weeks of chemo, and when the side effects are beginning to pull you down, you might be able to simply stop your chemotherapy for a while and let your body recover a bit before carrying on with your treatment.

Naturally it is early days yet and no-one is quite certain yet about just how long a 'chemo holidays' could be or how often you can take them, but for many advanced prostate cancer sufferers this seemingly small advance in treatment could well make a world of difference.

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