Radiation therapy for prostate cancer may be used alone or combined with hormone treatment. Rarely, it is used with surgery. It is most effective in treating cancers that have not spread beyond the prostate, but it can also be effective in treating cancer that is only in the tissues near the prostate (locally advanced prostate cancer). Radiation therapy also is used to relieve pain from metastatic cancer.

Radiation therapy for locally advanced prostate cancer is often combined with hormone treatment. Using both together improves your chances of being disease-free for longer and living longer.⁶

Other Treatment Choices

External-beam radiation therapy uses a large machine to aim a beam of radiation at your tumor to destroy cancer cells. The radiation damages the genetic material of the cells so that they can't grow. Although radiation damages normal cells as well as cancer cells, the normal cells can repair themselves and function, while the cancer cells cannot. If cancer has spread to your bones, radiation treatment may be given to specific areas to relieve pain.

What To Think About

Radiation treatment commonly has side effects, including urinary incontinence, inflammation of the bladder and colon (colitis), diarrhea, and erection problems.

Clinical trials are ongoing to find ways to prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat prostate cancer. For example, scientists are testing vaccines that use the immune system to keep cancer from getting worse. Other studies are under way to test on-and-off hormone therapy for men who have advanced prostate cancer. Hormone therapy lasts until cancer growth stops, then begins again once the cancer progresses. These trials hope to prove that men can avoid some of the side effects of continual hormone therapy and still receive treatment that will block cancer growth.¹⁵ If you are interested in being in this type of trial, contact the U.S. National Cancer Institute Clinical Trials Support Unit (www.ctsu.org).