When prostate cancer moves out of the prostate gland and extended into other areas of the body it is said to be advanced prostate cancer and treatment becomes far more difficult than when cancer is limited to the prostate gland. If your cancer has not spread too widely and is not especially aggressive it is still possible not merely to treat it but in fact to cure it. In many cases however where cancer has spread widely, or is too aggressive, treatment becomes a matter of simply slowing the progression of the disease and giving you the best possible quality of life. Presently one of the chief treatments for cases of advanced prostate cancer is chemotherapy often using a drug called docetaxal. Docetaxal is a very effective drug for many people and does indeed slow the progression of prostate cancer and extend the life of many people. However, it does have its side effects which include things like nausea, hair loss, loss of appetite and an increased risk of infection. It is here therefore that we come across one of the biggest difficulties in treating advanced prostate cancer. If you are treating a condition which cannot be cured and which will eventually kill you, then extending your life by slowing down the progress of the disease is good providing that treatment gives you an acceptable quality of life and does not leave you feeling that the treatment is worse than the cancer itself. For a significant number of prostate cancer sufferers, who are often in their 60s or older, chemotherapy is far from pleasant but is a price that is worth paying to buy them some time when they initially begin their treatment. But, as the treatment progresses and the side effects begin to build the picture often alters and many patients start to question whether or not it is all worth it. Naturally this is never a simple question to answer and must be the subject of a very personal discussion between yourself, your family and your physician. A lot of us will be familiar with this scenario either through our own experience with illness or from our experience of seeing a family member of close friend in this situation and know well just how difficult a time it can be. Now, however, there may be a glimmer of light at the end of this tunnel as studies involving a group of patients with metastatic prostate cancer suggest that many people may be able to take a 'chemotherapy holiday' without any significant harm to their treatment. In other words, after several weeks of chemotherapy, and when the side effects are staring to pull you down, you may be able to stop your treatment for a time and give your body a chance to recover a little before carrying on with your treatment. Now it is of course early days yet and no-one is exactly sure yet just how long your 'chemotherapy holidays' could be or how often you can take them, but for many advanced prostate cancer sufferers this apparently minor advance in treatment may make all the difference in the world.
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