Is there any cure for advanced prostate cancer?

For any malignant tumor, the treatment effect is better in the early stage and worse in the late stage. Clinically, many prostate cancer patients are already in the late stage when they show symptoms and seek medical treatment. So is there any cure for these late-stage prostate cancers?

The answer is yes. Currently, there are many options for advanced prostate cancer, including endocrine therapy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Because most prostate cancers are dependent on androgens, endocrine therapy is often used as the first-line treatment for advanced prostate cancer. Specific measures include bilateral testicular removal, oral anti-androgen drugs, and injection of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogs. The principle is to suppress the androgen level in the patient's body. Without the support of androgens, prostate cancer cells will undergo apoptosis, thereby inhibiting the development of cancer. According to statistics, the 5-year survival rate of patients with advanced prostate cancer who receive endocrine therapy can reach 60%.

However, there are also data showing that nearly half of patients with advanced prostate cancer will become insensitive to treatment after a period of endocrine therapy, which we call hormone-independent prostate cancer. For these patients, second-line endocrine therapy or chemotherapy can still be considered. Currently, the more effective chemotherapy drugs recognized include docetaxel, which is generally given once every three weeks for a total of 6-10 times.

This chemotherapy regimen is used in conjunction with hormones, and has relatively few side effects. Most patients can tolerate it, and current clinical treatment results show that it can effectively prolong survival time and reduce symptoms such as bone pain. For locally advanced prostate cancer or prostate cancer with bone metastasis, radiotherapy can also be used to relieve patient symptoms and improve quality of life. For patients with advanced prostate cancer and bone metastasis, the use of zoledronic acid drugs, strontium isotope therapy, etc. can also relieve bone pain symptoms.