Surgery

• Of all the treatment options for prostate cancer, surgery is one of the most common. With this mode of care, the individual has the entire gland of the prostate removed from the body. This is especially effective when the cancer is still contained within the prostate, as would be seen in earlier stages of the disease. This is a very effective form of treatment, and many men are essentially "cured" after the procedure.
  
  

Radiation Therapy

• Another common treatment option for prostate cancer is radiation therapy. In this method of healing, radiation is used to shrink and kill the abnormal cells within the prostate as well as any other affected tissue. For some men, a procedure called external beam radiation is employed as a form of therapy. This method directs X-rays on the prostate and any other tissues affected by the cancer. For other men, the practice of brachytherapy is deemed a better option. This form of treatment entails the implantation of minuscule pellets directly into the prostate. These pellets are radioactive and basically kill the cancer from the inside.
  
  

Hormone Therapy

• While not a cure for prostate cancer, hormone therapy is another treatment option, though often adjunct to other forms of therapy. With this method, a number of different drugs, like leuprolide, goserelin and flutamide, are used to change the production and use of certain hormones within the body. This is believed to improve the quality of a person's life as well as increase his rate of survival.
  
  

Chemotherapy

• Though not as widely used as other forms of treatment for prostate cancer, chemotherapy is an effective option for some men. And much like radiation therapy, this form of treatment targets the cancerous cells, but instead of X-rays, drugs are used. However, chemotherapy cannot cure prostate cancer, so it is often used in conjunction with other forms of treatment, like surgery, to first shrink the tumor before it is removed.
  
  

Watchful Waiting

• Another method of treatment, especially with older men or those in poor health, is something called watchful waiting. With this mode of care, nothing is actually used to target and kill the cancer. This is usually done when the cancer is in its infancy, still contained within the prostate or poses no problems for the individual. Follow-ups are scheduled on a regular basis to monitor the progression of the tumor, and other modes of care can be turned to if the prognosis changes.
  
  

Alternative Treatments

• Besides the more common options of treatment, there are other more alternative therapies and procedures that are use to treat cancer of the prostate. Things like cryotherapy (freezing of the cancerous tissue), gene therapy (genes administered into diseased cells) and immunotherapy (bolstering the immune system to fight the cancer) have been used but are still relatively new and need more research to garner whether or not they are truly effective in the long run.