Prostate cancer treatment options in China

The prostate is a small gland below the bladder that helps make semen. Many prostate cancers grow slowly and may never cause harm. Others grow faster and need prompt treatment.

Doctors judge risk using the PSA blood test, the Gleason score or Grade Group from the biopsy, MRI findings and the stage. They then group the cancer as low, intermediate or high risk, locally advanced, or spread to other parts of the body.

For low-risk cancer, active surveillance is often the best choice. It means regular PSA tests, MRI and sometimes repeat biopsies, with treatment only if the cancer changes. For cancer that needs treatment, the main options are surgery to remove the prostate, external beam radiation, or brachytherapy, where radioactive seeds are placed in the prostate. Hormone therapy is often added to radiation for higher-risk cancer.

For cancer that has spread or come back, treatment usually combines hormone therapy with newer hormone medicines, chemotherapy, targeted drugs for tumours with certain gene changes, and radioactive medicines that seek out prostate cancer cells. Canada offers all of these standard treatments. For most men, there is no medical reason to travel.

Some men ask about seed brachytherapy in China when waits for it are long in their region, or when it is not offered locally. Others are interested in carbon-ion radiotherapy and want to understand whether they would be a suitable candidate. A second opinion can also help when you are weighing surgery, radiation and surveillance.

Results for carbon ions in prostate cancer are encouraging in some centres, but they come from smaller or less controlled studies. It has not been shown to work better than the radiation available at home. Chinese hospitals decide whether they can accept you after reviewing your records. We cannot promise access or results.