PROSTATE CANCER

Cancer of this type is most common amongst young men.  Prostate cancer is the growth of malignant class in the prostate.  The prostate is a size of a walnut and it is located below the bladder and in front of the rectum at the bottom of his pelvis.  Its purpose is to make and store seminal fluid, a milky liquid that nourishes sperm.  The gland helps regulate both bladder control and normal sexual functioning.  Nearly 230,000 new cases and 30,000 deaths are expected.  The American Society of Reproductive Medicine concludes that prostate cancer occurs in men 65 years of age or older.

Risk Factors

• Men over the age of 50 can develop prostate cancer.  The disease can occur at any age, but it is often found in men that are older.  The risk of developing prostate cancer increases with age. 
• Race is another risk factor, according to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, African-American men are twice as likely as white men to develop the disease.
• Prostate cancer have first been seen in men in their twenties and in their ninietines.
• A family history of prostate cancer may also increase a man’s risk of developing the disease, especially if he has family members who are diagnosed with prostate tumors or if they are younger than the age of 60 at the time of diagnosis.
• Studies and Researcher also suggest that a high-fat diet may increase the risk of prostate cancer.

Symptoms

Some of the symptoms of prostate cancer are: • Need to urinate frequently

• Difficulty starting to urinate or hold back urine
• Inability to urinate
• Blood in urine or semen
• Painful or burning urination
• Frequent pain or stiffness in the lower back, hips or upper thighs

Diagnosis

• A biopsy is suggested, this is a procedure in which tissue samples are removed from the prostate and then examined by a pathologist. Once the biopsy is completed and it indicates that you do have prostate cancer, your physician will gather more information to further characterize the cancer and help determine the most effective course of treatment.
• Physicians determine the aggressiveness of prostate cancer using the Gleason grading system. Gleason grading system provides an estimate of the cancer’s potential to grow and spread to other parts of the body. Patients with high-grade cancers, are usually recommended for treatment.

Diagnostic imaging tests are performed to determine the extent of the tumor in the prostate and whether cancer cells have spread to surrounding tissues or other parts of the body. Some other tests may include:

• Ultrasound
• Microspectroscopy, a sophisticated chemical analysis, to better define the extent and location of a cancer
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using an endorectal or surface coil to help assess the extent of the tumor in the prostate and surrounding tissues
• Computed tomography (CT) scans or radionuclide bone scans to see if the disease has spread to lymph nodes, organs, or bones

Treatment

Early detection and proper treatment may eliminate prostate cancer or prevent it from progressing.

Surgery is performed to completely eliminate a patient’s cancer while preserving normal urinary and sexual function, if possible.  According to recent research, surgeons with more experience are more likely to eliminate prostate cancer, and reduce the chance of recurrence of cancer.

While performing prostate cancer surgery, surgeons generally remove the prostate (a procedure called radical prostatectomy), as well as some tissue surrounding it.  Surgeons usually also remove a sample of the lymph nodes in a nearby tissue to determine whether the cancer has spread beyond the prostate.

Generally about 75 percent of men treated with surgery will not have a recurrence of their cancer.

Another treatment for prostate cancer is radiation therapy which uses high-energy rays delivered by external beam (similar to an x-ray) or brachytherapy (implanted radioactive sees).

Intensity modulated radiation therapy- a 3-D image of the prostate from multiple computed tomography (CT) scans and uses this image and moveable leaves similar to the lens on a camera to precisely shape the radiation beam to the contours of the prostate.  The beam delivers high doses of radiation specifically to prostate tissues while sparing surrounding tissues.

Systemic and hormonal therapies are for patients that have a form of the disease that is aggressive or has a high risk of spreading to other sites.   Treatment usually includes hormonal therapy and/or chemotherapy, often in combination with radiation or surgery.  Hormonal therapy is for patients whose prostate cancer has spread beyond the prostate or has recurred after treatment.