Treatment: Hormone therapy for prostate cancer
Prostate cancer relies on the male hormone, testosterone, to enable it to grow. One way of controlling the cancer is to starve it of testosterone. Hormone therapy (Androgen deprivation therapy) reduces the amount of testosterone in the body and can slow or stop the growth of cancer cells for many years. Hormone therapy can be given as injections; goserelin (Zoladex), leuprorelin (Prostap) or tablets flutamide (Chimax, Drogenil), bicalutamide (Casodex).
Many of the men interviewed were having hormone therapy, sometimes in combination with other treatments such as radiotherapy. Most were taking Casodex (bicalutamide) tablets or Zoladex (goserelin) injections, or a combination of the two. Drugs may be changed during the course of the disease. Hormone therapy can also be given as a long term follow on treatment after radiotherapy with the aim of reducing the chance of the cancer coming back (this is also known as adjuvant therapy).
Some men described how the Zoladex injections were given. Hormone treatment can dramatically reduce the PSA level. Casodex taken without other hormones has relatively little effect on a man's sex life, but it has to be taken daily, which may be hard to remember. One man reported that he had chosen to take Casodex alone, but he had by mistake been given too low a dose to make it effective. Although some men reported that hormone treatment suited them, others reported serious side effects (see 'Side effects of treatments').
Further information on hormone therapy can be found on Macmillan Cancer Support's website. and Cancerhelp UK.
Last reviewed January 2012.
Last updated January 2012.
