What are the treatments for prostate cancer?
Treatment for prostate cancer is determined by the characteristics of the tumour and the patient’s condition. Conventional (or standard) types of therapy include:
- Surgery
- Radiotherapy
- Chemotherapy
- Hormone therapy
As Dr Javier Cortés said, often the best therapeutic option is to enter a clinical trial. Trials have a very important impact not only to treat the primary tumour, but also to find the best treatment for metastases.
Clinical trials: a great option for treating prostate cancer and its metastases
Clinical trials play a crucial role in clinical research, contribute to increasing knowledge about the disease, improve current therapies for prostate cancer, develop new treatments and can bring numerous benefits to the patients who participate in them.
Prostate cancer treatments under research
The main benefit for patients is access to innovative therapies with great results, such as monoclonal antibodies.
Monoclonal antibodies are produced in laboratories to boost the body’s immune response. They act against specific tumour proteins, thus preventing cancer growth and trying to reduce the side effects that could be caused by, for example, chemotherapy.
Today, some antibodies are already used regularly in clinical practice, but new antibodies are still being developed and researched in order to achieve the best treatment option.
Clinical trials to improve current prostate cancer treatment
Another benefit of participating in a clinical trial is to reduce the side effects of prostate cancer treatment. This is achieved by combining different drugs to improve the efficacy and quality of life of the participant. For example, chemotherapy and immunotherapy can be administered together, rather than using chemotherapy alone as a stand-alone treatment.
Clinical trials to find your best prostate cancer treatment
Some clinical studies do not seek to compare one drug versus another, but to personalise treatment to each specific patient as much as possible. Every person is different, every cancer is different, even every metastasis is different. Standard treatments are applied because, in general, they are the ones that work for most patients. However, personalized therapeutical approaches increase survival as well as quality of life.