and shrink tumors. Radiation may come from a machine outside the body, or from putting materials that produce radiation through thin plastic tubes in the area where the cancer is found. A side effect from radiation therapy is impotence.Hormone therapy for prostate cancer can take many forms. Male hormones can actually help prostate cancer grow. To stop the cancer from growing, drugs that decrease the amount of male hormones made may be given. Sometimes, an operation to remove the testicles is done to stop the testicles from making testosterone. Hot flashes are a side effect of hormone therapy.Current research of prostate cancer has linked it to the X chromosome, which is one of two chromosomes that determine sex in mammals. This is the first time that a gene for a common type of cancer has been linked to the X chromosome. Dr. Patrick C. Walsh of John Hopkins said, “This is a major step toward a better understanding of the factors responsible for prostate cancer, and would not have possible without the intense effort and collaboration of a large number of scientists and patients in the U.S., Finland, and Sweden.” Dr. Francis Collins said, “Mapping HPCX brings us one step closer to understanding the origins of prostate cancer…Now we need to identify the precise gene and the misspelling which correlated with risk of cancer.” Knowing where prostate cancer comes from will enable doctors to determine who is more at risk then others so that they will be able to prevent future patients from getting it.Surgical castration is the most cost-effective treatment for prostate cancer, but it is not the choice of many. A new method is to target a beam of high-intensity ultrasound at the prostate. This may destroy cancer cells, and have few side effects. However, there have only been preliminary studies, so evidence is not conclusive. Another method being tested is implanting radioactive seeds into the prostate. This method...
