[약손+] Diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, which threatens men’s health ⑬Treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer ::::: Article

Men and women differ not only in their body structures but also in the hormones they secrete and lifestyle habits, which results in differences in the high incidence of cancer. For men, there are representative male cancers that reduce the quality of life. It is ‘prostate cancer.’ Prostate cancer is known to be a common cancer in the West, but its incidence rate in Korea has been increasing recently. We will learn about how to treat and manage prostate cancer, which threatens men’s health, with Professor Kim Byeong-hoon, a urology specialist.

[윤윤선 MC]
You mentioned castration-resistant prostate cancer earlier when hormone treatment no longer works well. How should we proceed in such a case?

[김병훈 비뇨의학과 교수]
Many people benefit from hormone treatment, but when the effect of hormone treatment disappears, cytotoxic chemotherapy is performed. At this time, it is the same as the chemotherapy we receive for other common cancers.

Various drugs are mainly used as intravenous therapy, and like general anti-cancer treatment, various symptoms such as hair loss, muscle pain, numbness in the hands, hypersensitivity reactions, and indigestion appear as side effects. So, although there are side effects to hormone treatment, most people are not aware of them. On the other hand, this type of anti-cancer treatment, like other anti-cancer treatments, can cause a rapid decline in physical strength.

Recently, medicines have developed a lot, and many drugs have been released that enable secondary hormone treatment even after primary hormone treatment. In the past, second-line hormone treatment was covered only in cases where chemotherapy failed, but recently, it is covered in high-risk groups even before chemotherapy, and in particular, from September 2024, first-line hormone treatment will also be available for hormone-dependent prostate cancer that is still responding to hormones. Active treatment is being conducted in combination with hormone therapy to further extend the period of patients’ good quality of life.

[이동훈 MC]
A variety of new treatments offer hope in many ways. Prostate cancer is a cancer with a high survival rate, a good cancer, and a slow cancer, but I think cancer is the disease that people want to avoid the most. What kind of prevention is needed?

[김병훈 비뇨의학과 교수]
These are preventive rules recommended by the Korean Urological Association. First of all, soybean paste, tofu, and cheonggukjang, which contain a lot of beans, are said to be very helpful. Of course, you should avoid high-fat animal foods and eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits. In particular, tomatoes are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant, so it is good to consume them in a cooked state. The most important thing is to exercise hard at least 3 times a week and for more than 30 minutes at a time.

The most important thing that an individual can do is to know in advance, so men in their 50s or older should be screened for prostate cancer once a year. In particular, since there is a family history of about 9%, if any family member or relative has prostate cancer, the risk is 40%. It can be said that a little more active testing is needed from the beginning.

(Composition Kim Jae-yoon)