Is chemotherapy for prostate cancer painful?

Written by Liu Liang

Oncology

Updated on September 27, 2024

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For patients with advanced prostate cancer, endocrine therapy is primarily used. Chemotherapy is generally chosen when endocrine therapy is resistant and ineffective. The side effects of chemotherapy are similar to those of other chemotherapy treatments.

The first is the gastrointestinal side effects, such as nausea, vomiting, decreased appetite, or bloating and abdominal pain.

The second is bone marrow suppression, which leads to a decrease in white blood cells and platelets.

The side effects of chemotherapy vary with each patient's constitution and other factors. In most cases, with the support of medications for stomach protection, anti-nausea, and increasing white blood cells, the majority of patients can generally tolerate the treatment.

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Can prostate cancer patients eat milk and eggs?

Prostate cancer is the most common malignant tumor in the male urinary reproductive system, with 80% of cases occurring in elderly individuals over the age of 65. From an etiological perspective, a high-fat diet may be a contributing factor to prostate cancer. However, we know that malignant tumors are consumptive diseases, and nutritional status is crucial during the treatment and recovery process, especially in elderly individuals with weaker constitutions. Therefore, patients with malignant tumors should ensure adequate nutrition intake, particularly protein intake. Milk and eggs are common foods for the general population and offer a cost-effective source of nutrition. They can be included in the diet of prostate cancer patients. Of course, dietary intake should focus on healthy proportions. It is not about consuming only milk and eggs at every meal but maintaining a normal and healthy dietary balance, which is better for the patient.

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How to treat bone metastasis in advanced prostate cancer?

For cases of advanced prostate cancer with bone metastasis, the following clinical treatment measures can be taken: Firstly, for the pain caused by bone metastatic lesions, symptomatic pain relief treatment should be administered with medication. The pain from bone metastatic lesions generally presents as moderate to severe, and medications usually involve weak or strong opioids for pain relief. For some patients with advanced bone metastases, pathological fractures may occur, necessitating treatments such as bone stabilization and bone cement. For some patients with advanced bone metastasis from prostate cancer, monthly injections of zoledronic acid can also be administered to treat the bone metastases. When prostate cancer has metastasized to the bone, it indicates that the disease is at an advanced stage, and the opportunity for curative surgery is lost. In most cases, treatments such as targeted therapy and endocrine therapy are adopted as conservative medical approaches.

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Can prostate cancer be detected by a CT scan?

If a CT scan is performed for prostate cancer, it usually can detect the tumor in the prostate, especially an enhanced CT scan will show enhancement. However, to confirm the diagnosis, it is still necessary to perform a prostate biopsy to find cancer cells. Only with the detection of cancer cells can prostate cancer be diagnosed. Additionally, a blood test for the tumor marker PSA, which generally increases, can be used in combination with these findings for a comprehensive evaluation. The definitive diagnosis of prostate cancer requires a biopsy to find cancer cells, which is the gold standard for diagnosing prostate cancer.

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What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?

Patients with prostate cancer exhibit some signs before the onset of the disease. Patients may experience an increase in urination frequency, urgency, and pain similar to the clinical manifestations of urethritis, and some patients may present with hematuria. Moreover, prostate cancer will exhibit hyperplasia and enlargement as well as abnormal urine retention. As the disease progresses, prostate cancer lesions will spread to surrounding areas, presenting clinical symptoms such as pain, bleeding, or difficulty urinating. Clinically, some laboratory and imaging tests will reveal significantly elevated levels of prostate-specific antigen and prostate ultrasound, among other tests, might show abnormal nodular lesions.

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Is prostate cancer prone to metastasis?

Prostate cancer most commonly metastasizes to bones, with multiple bone metastases frequently observed clinically. In fact, the majority of prostate cancer patients already have multiple bone metastases by the time they are diagnosed. Therefore, bone is the most common distant organ to which prostate cancer spreads. Other distant organ metastases, such as to the lungs and liver, are less common, unless in very advanced stages of the disease. Additionally, prostate cancer commonly invades locally, spreading to nearby pelvic structures and tissues, such as the bladder and rectum, which is a common form of local invasion and spread.