[Current Status of Prostate Cancer and Its Relation to Home Medical Care]

Because ofboth the indolent and aggressive nature ofprostate cancers, it is not easy to select the best treatment for patients receiving home medical care who already have many diseases. Since the growth ofprostate cancer is generally slow and all treatments adversely affect the quality of life to some degree, conservative treatment may well be the best option for these patients with prostate cancer. However, it is also true that we often encounter home medical care patients with a locally advanced cancer who had symptoms such as difficulty to urine, macrohematuria and/or lumbago. Such patients need to be diagnosed soon and treated with mainly hormonal therapy after consultation with the specialist. Thus, after a careful evaluation ofthe nature ofthe cancer and comorbidity, we need to provide the best option ofdiagnosis and treatment for home medical care patients to maintain their quality of life.