Q.) Why do I need these stinkin’ hormone shots?? (Or also- how come I don’t get any stinkin’ hormone shots??)
A.) If you asked the second question, I think the ones who asked the first would like to have a private word with you.
In addition to being the most common cancer in men, the majority of all prostate cancers are very much “fueled” by the male sex hormone, testosterone. While it is a very important hormone for the normal function of many of our bodies organs, testosterone can also cause prostate cancer to grow more rapidly.
If you have an aggressive form of prostate cancer, your Urologist or Radiation Oncologist will recommend you to undergo androgren deprivaton therapy (or, casually referred to as “hormone therapy”). The term “hormone therapy” is actually can be a bit confusing; the shots you are receiving, called LHRH agonists, work by dramatically lowering the testosterone in your blood (not increasing it, which would be a bad thing).
Besides being a really big needle, androgen deprivation therapy is not very fun because of the side effects it causes. These include, decreased libido, impotence, and hot flashes. If your significant other is going through menopause, don’t look to her for any sympathy.
Why do we do this? Because thousands of men in your shoes were studied, and those who got hormone therapy did better. Right now, the recommendation for high-risk prostate cancer is for continued androgen deprivation therapy for 2 years. The optimal length of time for this treatment is still being studied.
So far, we’ve been talking about guys with high-risk, localized prostate cancer. Do you need hormone therapy if you have low-risk, medium-risk, or metastatic prostate cancer? For low-risk guys, the answer is no. For the other two categories, the answer is a little bit trickier. We’ll punt to your own radiation or medical oncologist to answer that one– and it will depend on your specific clinical situation.