Also known as hormone therapy is another treatment considered when dealing with prostate cancer. I was offered this treatment along with proton therapy but decided against it.
In this post, I will give my very simplistic explanation of hormone therapy and provide links to more comprehensive and thorough descriptions.
Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT) is used to suppress or block the production of male hormones. The most abundant androgen in men is testosterone and this androgen is necessary for prostate cancers to grow. Most prostate cancers eventually stop responding to hormone therapy and become castration (or castrate) resistant. That is, they continue to grow even when androgen levels in the body are extremely low or undetectable.
Here are my reasons for deciding against ATD:
- Initially, ATD will affect my PSA levels
- PSA levels will be used to judge the affectedness of my proton therapy
- The side effects of ATD are worrying
- Doctor Bill was not concerned about my decision
Read More
National Cancer Institute – Fact Sheet
ATD – Side Effects