Prostate Cancer Canada

Treatment

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In The News

Media Advisory - Prostate Cancer Canada celebrates local Vancouver Hero
Vancouver, British Colombia, April 16 –– Prostate Cancer Canada will honour the late Jack Poole, former VANOC Board Chair and local businessman, with the Local Hero Award. Jack was a generous benefactor to the Vancouver General Hospital and UBC Hospital Foundation with gifts totalling $3 Million for “Jack the Robot”, a da Vinci S HD surgical system, and a $1 Million gift towards the Robert H. N. Ho Research Centre. His lead donation attracted a further $3.5 million in donations including $1.5 million from Jimmy Pattison. Together these donations enabled VGH to become the fourth Canadian hospital to employ robotic technology in surgery.

Media Advisory- Prostate Cancer Canada celebrates local Calgary Hero
Calgary, AB, April 10 –– Local Hero Dr. Jay Lee will be honoured on April 11th at the annual Wake Up Call Breakfast, hosted by Prostate Cancer Canada, in partnership with the Prostate Cancer Centre. Dr. Lee is being recognized for his extraordinary contribution to the fight against prostate cancer.

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Hormone Therapy

What is it?

Hormone therapy works by depriving cancer cells of the male hormones (androgens) they need to grow.
Affects the whole body rather than a particular area.

Most often used to treat:

Cancer that has spread outside the prostate
Recurrence of prostate cancer after another therapy has been used
Men who are at a high risk of experiencing cancer recurrence after surgery or radiation therapy.

What is done?

There are two methods of hormone therapy:

Surgical removal of the testicles to prevent testosterone production (rarely used).
Medication.

The 2 main categories of medication are:

Luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) analogues and LHRH agonists, both of which interfere with androgen production.
Anti-androgens which block the effects of male hormones on prostate cells.

What to expect?

Hormone therapy is used in various ways to treat prostate cancer.

Combination hormone therapy
Anti-androgens are combined with either LHRH analogue therapy or surgical removal of the testicles.

Intermittent hormone therapy
Hormone therapy is stopped once PSA number is lowered and stabilized. It then resumes when PSA number increases again.

Neoadjuvant hormone therapy
Hormone therapy is given before local treatment. This reduces the size of the tumour to make the “main” treatment potentially more effective.

Adjuvant hormone therapy
Used directly after surgery or radiation to treat cancerous cells that may remain.

Side effects and risks

Possible side-effects include:

Hot flashes
Erectile dysfunction
Loss of energy, general weakness
Breast enlargement and tenderness
Irritability
Emotional disturbance including depression
Headache
Itching, dry skin, rash
Gastrointestinal issues: diarrhea, nausea,
Vomiting
Loss of muscle mass
Weight gain (mainly due to increased body fat)
Shrinkage of testicles

Long-term use may lead to:

Osteoporosis
Lower blood counts or “anemia”
Higher levels of “bad” lipids in the blood