Can prostate cancer treatment affect a 65-year-old man?

Question

Hello doctor,

This might sound weird, but my 65-year-old husband was just diagnosed with prostate cancer, and I am worried about how his treatment might affect my health as his wife.

His PSA was 22.4, and the biopsy showed aggressive Gleason 8 cancer in 8 out of 12 cores. The oncologist wants to start him on Lupron injections and Bicalutamide pills for hormone therapy before radiation.

I read that these medications can be dangerous for women to handle, and I am the one who helps him with his pills every day.

Should I wear gloves when touching his prostate cancer medications?

I am also concerned because we still have an intimate relationship, and I am wondering if hormone therapy will make him completely lose interest. His urologist mentioned something about hormone therapy potentially affecting bone density, and I am already dealing with osteoporosis myself, with a T score of minus 2.8.

Can his prostate cancer treatment interfere with the Alendronate that I take weekly?

We both take multiple medications and live in the same house, so I want to make sure there are no interactions. I really need to understand what precautions I should take as his caregiver.

Please help.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I have gone through your query and understand your concern.

I understand and truly appreciate how much fear and anxiety you are living with, especially since your husband has become your number one priority.

Regarding his treatment, I prefer radiotherapy and hormonal therapy, also known as androgen deprivation therapy or ADT (it reduces male androgens to reduce cancer growth), but I do not prefer surgical treatment at all. Surgical treatment usually causes incontinence (accidental urine or fecal leakage) and erectile dysfunction (inability to keep an erection firm), and these issues are often permanent.

As for radiotherapy (it uses high radiation to kill cancer cells), its side effects include gastrointestinal upset and urinary tract infections, which are mild and reversible, and things return to normal again.

Regarding hormonal therapy, it does indeed cause bone loss, but we compensate for that by giving him a monthly injection called Denosumab, which increases bone strength. It causes weight gain and mood changes, but all of these are reversible. This means that when his PSA (prostate-specific antigen) starts to go down, we reduce the dose of hormonal therapy, and things begin to improve and return to better than before.

As for him being contagious to you or to any family member, that, of course, does not happen at all; he receives radiation sessions, and they are not contagious in any way to anyone in the household.

Regarding the fact that you have cases of prostate cancer in the family and he has prostate cancer, we recommend that your sons and daughters who are over the age of 25 undergo prophylactic testing. If any mutation occurs, we can address it, each one according to its unique circumstances and specific condition.

Do not be afraid, and deal with the situation with complete calm and relaxation. If you need to join any group therapy from groups that support wives and partners of people with prostate cancer, you will find that you learn many things from them, and they will benefit you with experiences similar to yours.

I hope I have answered your question.

Let me know if I can assist you further.

Thank you.