Hormone Therapy Alone As Primary Therapy for Teal
Prostate cancer cells are dependent on testosterone for their survival, so when testosterone is removed, they shrivel and die. Radiation and surgery can’t cure cancer that has already spread outside the prostate. Only hormone therapy, otherwise known as testosterone-inactivating pharmaceuticals ( TIP), circulates throughout the whole body attacking potential micro-metastasis in the lymph nodes or bones.
One of the advantages of TIP is how easily treatment can be monitored with PSA and scans. Normally, the PSA will decline to less than 0.1 within 8 months of starting therapy. Primary TIP, therefore, is an effective way to smoke out the rare but serious types of prostate cancer in those patients whose PSA fails to decline below 0.1. Such patients should consider a more aggressive treatment with some form of radiation.
So, what is the catch? First, TIP is not curative. Most men eventually require additional treatment. Second, TIP’s side effects are substantial. Despite these drawbacks, with TIP, men who need treatment but are reluctant to undergo immediate surgery or radiation can “test the water” without risking the irreversible side effects commonly associated with standard surgery or radiation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Scholz, MD is the executive director of the Prostate Cancer Research Institute. He is also the medical director of Prostate Oncology Specialists Inc. He received his medical degree from Creighton University in Omaha, NE. Dr. Scholz completed his Internal Medicine internship and Medical Oncology fellowship at University of Southern California Medical Center. He is co-author of Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers. He has authored over 20 scientific publications related to the treatment of prostate cancer.