It is not necessary to treat all prostate cancer and treatment may be safely deferred in certain patient groups. Localised and locally advanced disease can be treated by local (radical) therapies which aim to eradicate disease. The traditional local treatments are radical prostatectomy and radiation therapy, but experimental therapies such as high-intensity focal ultrasound (HIFU) are emerging as alternative options.1
Metastases are usually treated systemically. The standard systemic treatment for prostate cancer is hormonal therapy by means of androgen deprivation. Chemotherapy can be used in patients with metastatic prostate cancer that relapses after androgen deprivation therapy.1
Reference:
1. European Association of Urology. Guidelines on prostate cancer, 2010.