Prostate Cancer Sufferers Might Soon Be Able To Take A Chemo Break
January 22nd, 2009 | by Clare |
Where prostate cancer has moved out of the prostate and reached into other parts of your body it is classed as advanced prostate cancer and treating advanced prostate cancer is much more difficult than treatment when cancer is confined to the prostate gland.
If your cancer has not spread too far and is not especially aggressive it is possible not simply to treat the condition but in fact to cure it. However, in many cases where cancer has spread widely, or is especially aggressive, treatment is a case of simply holding back the progression of the disease and providing you with the best quality of life possible.
Presently one of the main prostate cancer treatment options for cases of advanced prostate cancer is intravenous chemotherapy often using a drug known as docetaxal. Docetaxal is a very effective drug for many people and it does indeed hold back the progress of prostate cancer and extend the life of many patients. Nevertheless, it is not without its side effects that include such things as hair loss, nausea, loss of appetite and an increased risk of infection. As a result it is here that we come across one of the biggest difficulties in advanced prostate cancer treatment.
If you are treating a disease that cannot be cured and which will kill you sooner or later, then extending your life by holding back the progression of the disease is great provided that treatment gives you an acceptable quality of life and does not leave you feeling that the treatment is worse than the disease itself.
For a lot of prostate cancer sufferers, who are often in their 60s, 70s or even 80s, chemotherapy is not pleasant but it is a price that is worth paying to buy them some time when they initially begin their course of treatment. However, as time goes by and the side effects start to build up the picture frequently alters and a lot of patients begin to question whether it is all worth it. Of course this is never a simple question to answer and has to be the subject of a discussion between you and your doctor.
A lot of us will be familiar with this picture either as a result of our own experience of illness or from our experience of seeing family members of close friends in this situation and will know only too well just how hard a time it can be.
Now, however, there may be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel because studies involving a sizeable group of patients with metastatic prostate cancer suggest that many patients might be able to take a ‘chemotherapy holiday’ without any significant detriment to their treatment. In other words, following several weeks of chemo, and at a time when the side effects are beginning to pull you down, you might be able to stop your chemotherapy for a time and give your body a chance to recover a bit before carrying on with your treatment.
Now it is of course early days yet and no-one is quite certain yet about just how long your ‘chemo holiday’ might be or how frequently you can take one, but for a significant number of advanced prostate cancer sufferers this seemingly small advance in treatment may well make all the difference in the world.