New drugs
Three new drugs Zytiga, Nubeqa, and Xtandi block the resistance to hormone therapy for prostate cancer, increasing survival rates. They also make it a lesser possibility for your cancer to spread. In the past, hormone therapy worked until the tumor became immune to it, or kept growing even without testosterone.
Vaccines
Treatment vaccines are a growing area of prostate cancer testing and research. Like other forms of immunotherapy, they train your immune system to identify and destroy tumors. Provenge is approved for men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and few to no symptoms.
Targeted radiation therapy and PSMA
A PSMA is a protein on the surface of a prostate cancer cell. Targeted radiation therapy connects a radioactive compound with the molecule that hunts down PSMA by attaching to it and killing cancer cells. Recent trials have prolonged the lives of men with advanced prostate cancer, though more research work is needed for men with early stages of the disease.
177Lu-PSMA-617
Where PSMA and targeted radiation therapy fall short with men at various stages of prostate cancer, 177Lu-PSMA-617 covers more ground. The process is the same: A molecule finds and attaches to a protein on the surface of the cancer cell, and then radiation kills the cancer cell and its DNA so it can’t regrow. In cases when other treatments didn’t work, 177Lu-PSMA-617 has successfully killed cancer cells.
Checkpoint inhibitors
Checkpoint inhibitors make your immune system better at destroying cancer cells by blocking proteins. They work best on tumors that have spread and have a lot of genetic mutations, such as the approved Keytruda treatment. However, this is not the case with prostate cancer which has been resistant to checkpoint inhibitors. Research is ongoing to combine this treatment with others for improved results.
PARP inhibitors
Cells have a built-in enzyme called PARP, that repairs damaged DNA. But damaged cancer cells that can’t heal themselves die, and that’s the objective. PARP inhibitors like Lynparza and Rubraca stop PARP from repairing cancer cells in cases where your prostate cancer has spread and hormone treatments are no longer effective.
Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy
Compared to surgeon-led prostate removal, this method involves smaller cuts, more accurate prostate removal, and less nerve damage. That means fewer negative side effects like erectile dysfunction and urinary problems. Other benefits include less blood loss, less post-operation pain, and a faster recovery.
Focal laser ablation
A common breast cancer treatment that’s still new to prostate cancer, focal laser ablation is a quick procedure that uses a laser to remove a tumor on the prostate instead of removing the entire prostate.
Cryotherapy
Cryotherapy is often used when other treatments don’t work, or if cancer comes back after a different treatment. To avoid damaging healthy tissue, doctors use an ultrasound to find and isolate the cancerous tissue, then insert metal gas-filled probes to freeze it. When cancer cells are frozen, they die.
Xofigo
These new forms of treatment destroy cancer cells with reduced alpha particle radiation and don’t harm healthy bone tissue as much. Xofigo is classified as a radiopharmaceutical. Doctors may suggest this treatment option if your prostate cancer is resistant to medical or surgical treatments that lower testosterone, and has spread to bones with symptoms, but not to other parts of the body.
High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU)
HIFU is a noninvasive treatment whereby an ultrasound transducer uses high-energy sound waves to create heat and kill cancerous prostate tissue found by MRIs. Also called MRI-guided focused ultrasound and focused ultrasound; it can heat cancerous tissue to 200 F in just 20 seconds.
