Protate cancer side effect

Exective summary by Prostate cancer foundation

Improvements in treatment delivery over the years have significantly reduced the severity of side effects of prostate cancer treatments. There are six broad categories of side effects that are typically associated with prostate cancer treatments: urinary dysfunction, bowel dysfunction, erectile dysfunction, loss of fertility, effects due to the loss of testosterone, and side effects of chemotherapy. Urinary Dysfunction

The term of urinary dysfunction encompasses both urinary incontinence, which can range from some leaking to complete loss of bladder control, and irritative voiding symptoms or urinary bother, including increased urinary frequency, increased urinary urgency, and pain upon urination.

For men undergoing prostatectomy, incontinence is the primary urinary side effect. Some form of urinary dysfunction is normal following initial therapy for localized prostate cancer. Management of Urinary Dysfunction
Because the urinary symptoms following radiation therapy are irritative in nature, drugs that improve urinary flow are commonly used. Although over 50% of men stay dry with this procedure, the effects only last for a short time.

Following radiation therapy, only 30% of men showed an improvement, with even fewer men reporting being completely dry after four years.

Treatment side effect

Executive summary by mayo clinic

Radioactive seed implants
Radioactive seeds implanted into the prostate have gained popularity in recent years as a treatment for prostate cancer. The therapy is generally used in men with smaller or moderate-sized prostates with small and lower grade cancers.

During the procedure, between 40 and 100 rice-sized radioactive seeds are placed in your prostate through ultrasound-guided needles. Side effects of radioactive seed implants can include:

Urinary problems. The procedure causes urinary signs and symptoms such as frequent, slow and painful urination in nearly all men. Urinary symptoms tend to be more severe and longer lasting with seed implants than with external beam radiation.

Sexual problems. Some men experience erectile dysfunction due to radioactive seed implants.

Rectal symptoms.

Hormone therapy
Hormone therapy involves trying to stop your body from producing the male sex hormones testosterone, which can stimulate the growth of cancer cells. This type of therapy can also block hormones from getting into cancer cells. In most men with advanced prostate cancer, this form of treatment is effective in helping both shrink the cancer and slow the growth of tumors. Sometimes doctors use hormone therapy in early-stage cancers to shrink large tumors so that surgery or radiation can remove or destroy them more easily. In some cases, hormone therapy is used in combination with radiation therapy or surgery. Some drugs used in hormone therapy decrease your body's production of testosterone. The hormones — known as luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) agonists — can set up a chemical blockade. Drugs typically used in this type of hormone therapy include leuprolide (Lupron, Viadur) and goserelin (Zoladex). Other drugs used in hormone therapy block your body's ability to use testosterone. Simply depriving prostate cancer of testosterone usually doesn't kill all of the cancer cells. Side effects of hormone therapy can include:

Erectile dysfunction

Certain hormone therapy medications can also cause:

Liver damage

Recent reports have shown that men who undergo hormone therapy for prostate cancer may have a higher risk of having a heart attack in the first year or two after starting hormone therapy. Radical prostatectomy
Surgical removal of your prostate gland, called radical prostatectomy, is used to treat cancer that's confined to the prostate gland. This surgery can affect muscles and nerves that control urination and sexual function. Two surgical approaches are available for a prostatectomy — retropubic surgery and perineal surgery.

Retropubic surgery. Perineal surgery. Bladder control problems (urinary incontinence). Most men younger than age 50 who have nerve-sparing surgery are able to achieve erections afterward, and even some men in their 70s are able to maintain normal sexual functioning.