Advanced Prostate Cancer Sufferers Might Soon Be Able To Take A Chemotherapy Break

When prostate cancer moves out of the prostate gland and extended into other areas of your body it is said to be advanced prostate cancer and treatment is much more difficult than when cancer is confined to the prostate gland.Provided your cancer has not spread too far and is not especially aggressive it is still possible not merely to treat the condition but in fact to cure it. However, in many cases where cancer has spread widely, or is particularly aggressive, treatment is a matter of merely holding back the progression of the disease and providing you with the best possible quality of life.At present one of the principle treatments for advanced prostate cancer is intravenous chemotherapy frequently using a drug known as docetaxal. This is a very effective drug treatment for a lot of patients and it does indeed hold back the progression of prostate cancer and extend life for many patients. But, it is not without its side effects that include things like nausea, loss of appetite, hair loss and an increased risk of infection. Consequently it is here that we encounter one of the biggest problems in advanced prostate cancer treatment.Where you are dealing with a condition that cannot be cured and that will eventually kill you, then lengthening your life by slowing down the progress of the cancer is great provided that treatment gives you a reasonable quality of life and does not leave you with the feeling that the treatment is worse than the condition itself.For a lot of prostate cancer patients, who are often in their 60s or older, chemotherapy is not pleasant but it is a price worth paying when they initially start their treatment. However, as the treatment progresses and the side effects start to come into play the picture frequently changes and a lot of patients soon begin to question whether or not it is all worth it. Of course this is never a simple question to answer and must be the subject of a discussion between the patient, his family and his physician.Many of us will be familiar with this scenario either as a result of our own personal experience of illness or as a result of our experience of seeing a family member of close friend in this situation and will know only too well just how difficult a time it can be.There may however be a glimmer of light at the end of this tunnel as studies involving a sizeable group of patients with metastatic, androgen-independent prostate cancer suggest that a lot of patients may be able to take a 'chemotherapy holiday' without significant harm to their treatment. In other words, following several weeks of chemotherapy, and when the side effects are really staring to get you down, you may be able to stop your chemo for a time and give your body a chance to recover a bit before going on with your treatment.Naturally it is early days yet and nobody is exactly certain yet about just how long your 'chemotherapy holidays' might be or how frequently you can take them, but for many advanced prostate cancer patients this apparently minor advance in treatment might well make a world of difference.