Advanced Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is often curable or slow-growing, safe to observe, and unlikely to cause any harm during your lifetime. But sometimes the cancer cells are more aggressive and likely to spread to other areas of the body – often the lymph nodes, bones, and liver. This is advanced or late-stage cancer.

To learn more about treatment options for early-stage or localized (non-metastatic) prostate cancer, please visit our Prostate Cancer condition page.

If you’ve been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, you still have a variety of potential treatment options at Spokane Urology. The current treatments for advanced prostate cancer are listed here. New treatments are always in development. Your physician can explain the most effective treatment options for your individual situation.

• Immunotherapy: These treatments stimulate your body’s immune system to find and destroy cancer cells, with advancements that help the body track down more elusive cancer cells. Ask your doctor if one of the following immunotherapies is right for you:
  • PROVENGE®
  • KEYTRUDA®

• Targeted Therapy: These therapies cause a disruption in the cancer growth. They target specific cancer cells and destroy them while minimizing damage to healthy tissue. Ask your doctor if one of these is right for you:
  • PLUVICTO®
  • PARP Inhibitors

• Hormone Therapy: The hormone testosterone is necessary for most prostate cancer cells to grow. Hormone therapy (also known as androgen deprivation therapy or “ADT”) stops testosterone from being made or from reaching prostate cancer cells. Without its energy source, the cancer slows and potentially shrinks. This therapy can be the right choice at certain stages of prostate cancer, and for different reasons. Ask your doctor if one of these is right for you:
  • ZYTIGA®
  • XTANDI®
  • ERLEADA®
  • NUBEQA®

• Cryotherapy: Also called cryosurgery or cryoablation, this therapy uses very cold temperatures to freeze and kill prostate cancer cells.
• LDR Brachytherapy with Palladium-103: Tiny radioactive seeds containing radioactive isotopes are implanted in your prostate. The seeds emit low dose radiation over several weeks, gradually destroying cancer cells while minimizing damage to nearby tissue.
• Stereotactic body radiation therapy: Delivers high doses of radiation in a small number of treatment sessions – five outpatient sessions on consecutive days or over a two-week period.
• Intensity modulated radiation therapy: Computer-guided radiation is targeted at cancer cells in daily sessions, over several weeks.