Advantages

• Chemotherapy can help improve your quality of life by controlling symptoms such as pain.
• It may shrink or slow the growth of your cancer. This may help some men live longer.
• There is no need to stay overnight in hospital. You will usually visit as a day patient.

Disadvantages

• You will have regular hospital appointments.
• There is no guarantee that it will work.
• Like most treatments, chemotherapy can cause side effects. You may also get side effects from the steroids you take alongside chemotherapy.

Most chemotherapy medicines are given as a course of up to ten sessions (cycles) of treatment, with a break of three to four weeks between each session.

Between treatment sessions, you will have a blood test to check that the amounts of different blood cells (your blood count) are within normal limits. You may also have blood tests to check how well your liver and kidneys are working.

At each treatment session, a liquid containing the drug will be passed through a fine tube (cannula) into a vein in your arm. Treatment usually takes about one hour. Sometimes chemotherapy is given through a tube that is inserted under the skin of your chest into a vein.

It is safe to be around other people, including children and pregnant women, when you are having chemotherapy. But you should try to avoid contact with people who are unwell and you should not have a type of vaccination called a live vaccine during your treatment or for at least six months afterwards.

If you develop signs of infection, such as a fever (high temperature), chills, or a sore throat, contact the hospital immediately for advice.

You will have regular follow-up appointments after treatment to check your PSA level and discuss any other symptoms you might have. If treatment has been successful, your PSA level will usually drop and/or your symptoms will improve.

You can read more about what treatment involves in our chemotherapy fact sheet.

The most common side effects of chemotherapy are:

• feeling and being sick (nausea and vomiting)
• increased risk of infection
• feeling breathless and tired
• bleeding and bruising more easily
• extreme tiredness (fatigue)
• hair loss
• sore mouth
• loss of appetite
• bowel problems
• numb or tingling hands and feet
• nail changes

Each type of chemotherapy has its own more specific side effects. Ask your doctor or nurse about the possible side effects of the chemotherapy you are having.

People react in different ways to chemotherapy. Some men get a lot of side effects whilst others only get a few. There is no way of knowing in advance which side effects you will get and how bad they will be. Most of the side effects are temporary and your body will recover once the treatment finishes.

You can read more about side effects in our chemotherapy fact sheet.

• What is the aim of this treatment?
• Which medicines would be most suitable for me?
• How long will the treatment last? How many cycles will I need?
• Can I stop the treatment if I feel unable to carry on with it?
• What are the possible side effects of the medicines, and how long will they last?
• What happens if the chemotherapy medicines don't work? Are there other treatments I can have?
• Are there any clinical trials I can take part in?
• Are there any other treatments available to me?
• Who should I contact if I have any questions at any point during my treatment? How do I contact them?
• Who will follow me up after my treatment finishes, and how often will I have follow-up appointments?

You can find a list of references used to produce this page in our online fact sheet.