Treatment

TREATMENT OPTIONS BY STAGE

Stage I

• Watchful waiting - Closely monitoring a patient's condition but withholding treatment until symptoms appear or change.
• Radical prostatectomy, usually with pelvic lymphadenectomy (removing lymph nodes), with or without radiation therapy after surgery. It may be possible to remove the prostate without damaging nerves that are necessary for an erection.
• External-beam radiation therapy.
• Implant radiation therapy.
• A clinical trial of high-intensity focused ultrasound.

Stage II

• Radical prostatectomy, usually with pelvic lymphadenectomy, with or without radiation therapy after surgery. It may be possible to remove the prostate without damaging nerves that are necessary for an erection.
• Watchful waiting.
• External-beam radiation  therapy with or without hormone therapy.
• Implant radiation  therapy.
• A clinical trial of radiation therapy with or without hormone therapy.
• A clinical trial of ultrasound-guided cryosurgery.
• A clinical trial of hormone therapy followed by radical prostatectomy.
  

Stage III

• External-beam radiation therapy with or without hormone therapy.
• Hormone therapy.
• Radical prostatectomy, usually with pelvic lymphadenectomy, with or without radiation therapy after surgery.
• Watchful waiting.
• Radiation therapy, hormone therapy, or transurethral resection of the prostate as palliative therapy to relieve symptoms caused by the cancer.
• A clinical trial of radiation therapy.
• A clinical trial of ultrasound-guided cryosurgery.

Stage IV

• Hormone therapy.
• External-beam radiation therapy with or without hormone therapy.
• Radiation therapy or transurethral resection of the prostate as palliative therapy to relieve symptoms caused by the cancer.
• Watchful waiting.

Reference:

National Cancer Institute, USA.