The Duke Prostate Center offers medical therapy as an adjuvant treatment for prostate cancer.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is used to treat patients whose cancers have progressed beyond the stage where surgery or radiation therapy alone can help.

As a leading clinical research institution, the Duke Cancer Institute offers patients access to the latest clinical trials exploring new treatment approaches with greater efficacy and fewer side effects.

Chemotherapy is also being studied in clinical trials earlier in the disease process in conjunction with radiation or surgery.

Hormone Therapy

Hormone therapy works by reducing production of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone, hormones that help prostate cancer cells grow.

In early-stage prostate cancer, hormone therapy can be used to shrink tumors before radiation therapy, helping the radiation to work better. Sometimes hormone therapy is used to slow the growth of any cancer cells left behind after surgery or radiation therapy.

It can also be used to shrink and slow the growth of the tumor in advanced cases that aren’t candidates for surgery or when prostate cancer has come back after treatment.

Types of hormone therapy include:

• Testicle removal (orchiectomy), which quickly stops production of most of the testosterone in the body.
• Medications to stop the production of testosterone. Use of these medications, called  luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) analogs, is sometimes called chemical castration because it shrinks the testicles over time.
• Medications that prevent hormones such as testosterone from getting to cancer cells. These medications, called anti-androgens, are typically used in combination with testicle removal or medications that stop hormone production.

Appointments

Learn how to make an appointment at the Duke Cancer Institute.