Many doctors recommend different ways to address your prostate cancer. While some require mandatory
radiation therapy or surgery, prostate cancer in the earliest stages does not require immediate attention.
However, without doing traditional prostate cancer treatment, you will have to actively observe your cancer, which can also be a lot of work.
Now, the question is, which option should you choose?
The first thing you might want to remember is to follow your doctor’s advice, especially if you have been going to a doctor whom you have been seeing ever since you discovered you had prostate cancer.
But to know for sure, you might want to learn about both active surveillance and traditional prostate cancer treatments.
What is active surveillance?
Active surveillance in prostate cancer is basically holding off traditional treatment such as radiation therapy and surgery.
Some men will need to undergo traditional treatment to get better. But the luckier ones will not need to
undergo such procedures, which is why many prostate cancer patients will hold off on any of the treatments, based on the doctor’s advice.
One of the advantages of active surveillance is that you won’t have to undergo surgery and radiation therapy if you don’t need to. However, there is still a risk that cancer will grow or spread if they do not actively monitor the disease.
The risks of radiation and surgery
Studies have shown that radiation therapy can cause future cancer because it will not only shrink or eliminate cancer cells but also has the possibility to affect non-cancer cells.
Although the chances of this happening are rare, there are cases where even with these treatments, prostate cancer still cannot be cured.
Some other disadvantages of radiation therapy are erectile dysfunction, bladder problems, and
bowel problems, which for some people, is not worth the risk.
With all of that being said, both instances have their fair share of pros and cons, and it is still best to listen to what your oncologist or physician advises you to do.
