Prostate
Cancer patients: Do research to ensure you make
the right decisions
Newswise — For many men
with early-stage prostate cancer, sorting out
the treatment options can be overwhelming. Yet
they feel pressured to choose a course of
therapy quickly. The first issue of a new
quarterly bulletin about prostate disease
published by Harvard Medical School says that
the most important thing to do is to take your
time and make sure you explore all treatment
choices thoroughly.
The inaugural issue of
Perspectives on Prostate Disease explains that
treatment decisions can be complicated for a
number of reasons. First, there’s no
one-size-fits-all treatment for early-stage
prostate cancer. Even the experts do not agree
about which men with such cancers should be
treated, which therapy is best—or whether, for
some tumors, treatment is even necessary.
Indeed, doctors are now advising many patients
to undertake a program of “active surveillance”
rather than pursue aggressive treatment.
The choice can become
even more difficult when a man takes into
account the side effects of treatment, which
can be devastating to his quality of life.
Marc B. Garnick, M.D.,
Harvard oncologist and editor-in-chief of
Perspectives, says, “For all these reasons, I
encourage patients to ask detailed questions and
perform due diligence to ensure that they are
making the right decisions about their medical
care. Due diligence begins with having the
confidence to question your physician about
treatment recommendations—after all, you are the
person who has to live with the results.”
Garnick recommends men also
consider these questions:
• Will you be able to deal with impotence if it
occurs? What about incontinence?
• How will the possible side effects of
treatment affect your relationship with your
partner—and your sense of self?
It’s vital to think about
these issues carefully: Studies show that 30% to
70% of men treated with surgery or radiation
therapy experience impotence, and at least 1% to
2% experience urinary incontinence—and some
experts think the true numbers are much higher.
According to Garnick, truly informed patients
are much better able to deal with adverse
consequences than patients who don’t have the
all the facts, or who rush into making a
decision.
