The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention names prostate cancer as the most common cancer in men, second only to lung cancer in number of cancer deaths in the United States. Treatment for prostate cancer involves surgery, radiation therapy and drug therapy. Treatment options, according to the Mayo Clinic, depend on the stage of the disease, the patient's state of health and the perceived benefits of the available treatments. There are several classes of medicines for prostate cancer.
Hormone Therapy
The growth of prostate cancer is enhanced by male sex hormones. The goal of hormone therapy, explains the American Cancer Society, or the ACS, is to block the action or remove the male sex hormones from the body. According to the Mayo Clinic, drugs for prostate cancer hormone therapy include leuprolide, goserelin, triptorelin, histrelin and degarelix, all of which stop the body from producing testosterone. Another set of drugs, bicalutamide, flutamide and nilutamide, block the preformed testosterone from affecting the cancer cells. In extreme cases, when the other drugs are no longer effective, estrogen and the antifungal agent ketoconazole are sometimes used, says the ACS.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy involves the use of drugs to kill cancer cells or stop them from growing and spreading. Chemotherapy is used mainly in cases that don't respond to hormonal therapy, notes the ACS. Drugs listed by the National Institutes of Health as effective in prostate cancer chemotherapy include adriamycin, docetaxel, paclitaxel, estramustine, mitoxantrone and prednisolone.
Biologic Therapy
The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the drug Provenge for use in the treatment of prostate cancer. It is a form of therapy that mobilizes the patient's immune system to fight the cancer. The drug boosts the body's immune response to cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, this is a form of immunotherapy or biotherapy.
Other Medications
Bisphosphonates are used to treat bone pain brought on by cancer that has spread to the bones. Steroids are also given in prostate cancer for bone pain and loss of appetite. Analgesics, multivitamins and food supplements are all given in prostate cancer to improve quality of life and treat some of the side effects of other modes of treatment.
