A diagnosis of advanced prostate cancer can bring a flood of emotions—fear, uncertainty, and concern for the future. The thought of cancer spreading beyond the prostate is frightening, and it’s natural to wonder what comes next. While this stage of the disease presents challenges, there are options.
Today’s treatments offer more ways than ever to manage the disease, reduce symptoms, and help men continue doing what matters most to them. With the right plan, advanced prostate cancer can often be controlled for years.
Advanced Prostate Cancer: What You Should Know
Prostate cancer remains one of the most common cancers diagnosed in men. In its earliest stages, prostate cancer often grows so slowly that men may feel perfectly healthy and experience no symptoms. It can grow quietly in the prostate for years before there are any signs.
When prostate cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it is considered advanced or metastatic. It may travel to nearby tissues, lymph nodes, or even distant sites such as the:
- Bones
- Liver
- Lungs
The bones are the most common place for prostate cancer to spread once it becomes metastatic.
Recognizing Prostate Cancer Warning Signs
Although men with early-stage prostate cancer can go years without apparent symptoms, once the disease advances, it is common to experience:
- More frequent or painful urination
- Difficulty starting or stopping urine flow
- Blood in urine or semen
- Pain in the back, hips, or other bones
- Swelling in the legs or feet due to impaired circulation or lymphatic drainage
- Unexplained weight loss
- Fatigue or a general sense of feeling unwell
The Importance of Staging
When your doctor diagnoses prostate cancer, determining how far it has spread is key to choosing the right treatment approach. Prostate cancer is typically categorized as:
- Stage I or II: Confined to the prostate gland, often slow-growing.
- Stage III: Extends just outside the prostate but not to distant organs.
- Stage IV: Cancer has spread to other tissues, lymph nodes, or organs such as bones.
Stage IV is where the focus shifts toward managing the disease rather than solely aiming to remove or eliminate it.
Treating Advanced Prostate Cancer
Advanced prostate cancer is more likely to be aggressive and may require a combination of treatments. Because it has reached areas beyond the prostate, it may no longer respond to therapies that work during earlier stages.
The primary goals of treatment include:
- Slowing its progression
- Alleviating any discomfort
- Preserving as much normal function and quality of life as possible
Decisions about which treatments to pursue depend on factors like:
- Your overall health,
- Where the cancer has spread (Stage)
- How aggressive it is (Grade).
Treatment options for advanced prostate cancer include:
- Androgen deprivation therapy, which reduces or blocks testosterone.
- Chemotherapy to relieve pain.
- Radiation to reduce pain and improve mobility.
- Immunotherapy which boosts the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells.
- Bone-strengthening medications to reduce bone-related pain and fracture risk.
- Surgery, such as transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), to improve urinary symptoms.
Newer targeted therapies, including radiopharmaceutical treatments like Lutetium-177 PSMA (Pluvicto), show promise in helping control the disease.
Pluvicto is a type of radiation that specifically targets a molecule on the surface of prostate cancer cells called PSMA. If you have advanced prostate cancer that doesn’t respond to standard treatments, this treatment might help. It may also be an option if you’re dealing with severe side effects from other treatments. It has been shown to improve outcomes, causing fewer physical side effects than other treatments.
Get Expert Care for Advanced Prostate Cancer
In advanced stages of prostate cancer, a complete cure is unlikely. Fortunately, research continues to make progress. Now, treatments can control the disease for longer. They also ease symptoms and help maintain a good quality of life.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, there is hope – call (541) 334-3350 to schedule an appointment with an expert urologist today.