According to the American Cancer Society, about 1 in 10 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. Of those who are diagnosed, six in 10 will be over the age of 65. The condition is also more likely to affect Black Americans more than any other ethnicity. While prostate cancer isn’t an automatic death sentence, it can be tricky to diagnose in the early stages because the symptoms can be so mild. This can lead to many men being diagnosed when the illness is already in its later stages. With this new treatment in play, however, men with more aggressive forms of prostate cancer may have a more positive outlook.
The New Treatment for Prostate Cancer
This new treatment is a targeted molecular therapy that uses a combination of theranostic medication to attack a specific molecule. This radiation therapy seeks out the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) molecule that prostate cancer cells make. The PSMA molecule is usually on the surface of the cancer cells so it can be easily reached by radiation therapy. The treatment would then kill the cancer cells – effectively ridding the body of them.
Doctors are interested in using this theranostic radiation therapy because it’s more targeted than chemotherapy. While chemotherapy will kill abnormal and healthy cells alike, this form of radiation therapy will only attack the cells that have the PSMA molecule attached to them. To ensure that you have these cells, your doctor would recommend a PSMA PET Scan that uses a tracer to find the cells that have the PSMA molecule. Once the results show that you have the metastatic cells with the molecule, you can begin treatment.
The schedule may vary but you should get a treatment every six weeks for a total of six sessions.
What to Expect With This Treatment
A few weeks after the scan, you will be given the treatment through an IV. While the delivery of the medication doesn’t take long, the doctor will likely observe you for a couple of hours to check for side effects. Some of the possible side effects include dry mouth, fatigue, vomiting, joint pain, and nausea. Some people may experience a drop in their blood count but it usually isn’t severe enough to cause an issue. Once your doctor is satisfied, you can go home.
There are several precautions you need to take when you’re at home, however, to protect those who live with you from radiation exposure. Your doctor will give you the specific details depending on the medication and your situation but there are a couple of general guidelines. After treatment, you’ll need to stay at least three feet away from other people and pets for three days. When it comes to children and pregnant women, you have to stay away for a minimum of seven days.
Keeping your distance can mean sleeping in a different room, using a different bathroom, and refraining from sexual activity for seven days as well.
Even though your doctor would have checked for side effects before releasing you from the hospital, you still need to keep an eye out for your symptoms while at home. You can use over-the-counter painkillers to deal with joint pain and ask your doctor about the best way to deal with nausea or vomiting. You should contact your doctor if you notice worsening symptoms or any signs of an infection. Some other issues you need to tell your doctor immediately include bleeding, unexplained bruising, a fever over 100.4 degrees, difficulty breathing, swollen limbs, constant dizziness, black stool, and blood in the urine.
When it comes to Black men, doctors have realized that the standard form of precautions may not apply. Though it’s generally said that the average age for a prostate cancer diagnosis is 67, Black men have been diagnosed earlier. In fact, the Prostate Cancer Foundation states that doctors recommend that Black Americans should start getting screened for prostate cancer at 40.
This recommendation is led by the fact that Black men are 60 percent more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and are twice as likely to die from the illness. Studies also show that they’re up to 75 percent more likely to have a metastatic form of the condition when diagnosed, which can lead to complications in treatment.
When dealing with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, it’s important to know all your options for treatment and act quickly so this new treatment may be just what Black men need to effectively beat the disease.
How to Talk to Your Doctor About It
As far as cancers go, prostate cancer may develop more slowly than others. However, that doesn’t mean you can slack off on getting treated once you’ve been diagnosed and your prostate cancer staged. When you’re talking to your doctor about your treatment options, it’s good to discuss the next steps if their suggested form of therapy doesn’t work. This type of radiation treatment is designed for those who are in the later stages of the disease and haven’t had success with other forms of therapy. If you’re about to try a more traditional form of treatment or have gone through it already, it’s good to ask your doctor about this new type of radiation therapy.
Of course, your doctor may not have access to this treatment yet so you should ask about getting a referral to one that does. Generally, you may be eligible for the treatment if the cancer tumors have spread beyond your prostate and you’ve already tried hormonal therapies and chemotherapy without success. It’s also advisable that you get a PSMA PET Scan that will confirm that your tumors have the PSMA molecule that will be targeted by the therapy.
Multiple studies show that Black men are more prone to developing prostate cancer. Worse yet, they’re at a higher risk of having a more aggressive form of the disease and therefore a worse outcome. This new radiation therapy could offer a more effective treatment option than what’s currently available. If you have metastatic prostate cancer, it’s time to talk to your doctor about that option.
