Prostate Cancer:

Treatment

Surgery

A prostatectomy is a surgical procedure in which the entire prostate gland and some surrounding tissue are removed. A prostatectomy can be performed using traditional open surgery or through less invasive techniques like robotic surgery.

Traditional / Open Prostatectomy

This procedure involves an incision in either the abdomen or the scrotum area. While long-term, serious side effects are somewhat less common now than in the past, traditional surgery for prostate cancer does carry with it a risk of long-term incontinence (the inability to fully control urine) and long-term impotence (the inability to have erection of the penis).

Robotic Prostatectomy

A prostatectomy can now be performed using leading robotic technology that can improve accuracy and minimize trauma. The da Vinci surgical system is a minimally invasive surgical tool that allows a surgeon to operate using tiny robotic arms that have been inserted into the body through very small incisions. Because the “hands” can move in ways human hands cannot, it is easier to avoid nearby muscles and nerves that control continence and potency. With da Vinci, there’s less trauma to the body — and a quicker recovery.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy (also called therapeutic radiology or radiation oncology) uses special kinds of energy waves or particles to fight cancer. Like surgery, radiation therapy is used in several ways depending on the type and location of the cancer. Radiation can be used to treat prostate cancer that is still confined to the prostate gland or that has spread to nearby tissue. If the disease is advanced, radiation can also help reduce the size of the tumor and provide relief from symptoms.

Brachytherapy

Brachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy in which radiation is administered inside the body as close to the cancer as possible. This way, a high dose of radiation can be given to the cancer while minimizing exposure to normal surrounding tissues. The treatment may be injected, or implanted directly into the tumor. Some of the radioactive implants are called "seeds", which stay in the body permanently, although the radioactive substance loses its radiation within a relatively short period of time. There are other types of brachytherapy implants that are removed. In some cases, patients may receive both internal and external radiation therapy.

TomoTherapy™

TomoTherapy Highly Integrated Adaptive Radiotherapy (HI-ART) is a new type of radiation therapy available at the University of Virginia. Unlike traditional radiation therapy, which generally delivers treatment to a tumor from a few different directions, the TomoTherapy System precisely pinpoints the tumor, delivering radiation from any point in a 360-degree circle around the patient. This results in more localized and accurate treatment of the tumor — with less damage to healthy tissue.