Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate gland, which is situated located below the bladder, directly in front of the rectum. Considered the most prevalent form of cancer in American men with roughly 162,000 new cases diagnosed each year, However, prostate cancer is quite treatable, particularly if caught early. Of course, as with any cancer, treatment course for prostate cancer will depend on the tumor size, cancer stage, as well as the overall health of the patient.

Here are the most common treatment options for prostate cancer:

1. Watch and wait

low-risk prostate cancers that are diagnosed early may not require treatment at all. In fact, many doctors opt to “watch and wait”, which refers to surveilling the cancer progression regularly with regular rectal exams, blood tests, and biopsies before more invasive steps (i.e., surgery) are taken. This is common in cases where cancer is located in a small area and patients of older age aren’t experiencing any symptoms.

2. Surgery

Surgery for prostate cancer is known as a radical prostatectomy, which consists of removing the prostate gland. Radical prostatectomy is rather “radical” indeed, as doctors perform the surgery using a hand controlled console that guides a mechanical robot to make a precise incision in the patient’s abdomen to remove the prostate gland. Radical prostatectomy does carry a risk of erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction following surgery.

3. Hormone therapy
Hormone therapy can be used as as effective way to prevent the body from producing testosterone, which can kill or slow the further growth of prostate cancer cells. Hormone therapy is commonly used in early stage prostate cancer cases to shrink tumors prior to other treatments, or to shrink later stage cancers. This therapy calls on luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (or LH-RH) agonists to stop the testicles from producing testosterone, or anti-androgens to block testosterone from reaching cancerous cells.

4. Biological therapy
Biological therapy is a form of immunotherapy that genetically engineers the patient’s own immune cells to kill their prostate cancer. The cells are lab engineered then injected back into the body to improve and decrease the cancer.

5. Radiation and chemo

Radiation therapy aims high-powered radiation rays directly at cancer cells in order to destroy them. Chemotherapy, is often used via an injection to stop the spread of rapidly growing cancer cells that have metastasized to other areas of the body.

6. Cryosurgery

Also known as cryoablation, this prostate cancer treatment involves freezing prostate tissue in order to kill cancer cells. Cryosurgery inserts a series of tiny needles are inserted into the prostate and emits a cold gas to freeze cancer cells and surrounding tissues. Next, a heated gas is emitted to reheat the same tissues.