What is prostate cancer?

Prostate cancer is a sort of cancer in the prostate. This variant occurs only in men, because only man have a prostate (just like only women can get cervical cancer). Especially when the a man gets older, he has an increased risk of prostate cancer.  

What is prostate cancer?

As written in the introduction, prostate cancer is a cancer in the prostate. Sometimes is it difficult to say that someone has this type of cancer, because some symptoms are similar to the symptoms of an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hypertrophy).

Symptoms of prostate cancer

There are some symptoms that may indicate prostate cancer. It should, however, be said that having one or more of these symptoms doesn't necessarily have prostate cancer, but they could. So if you have one or more of these symptoms, I advice you to contact your doctor as soon as possible. You would prefer going for nothing ten times, than too late one time, with all its consequences, right?

• A weak beam when urinating
• At night you often have to go to the toilet
• You can’t hold your urine for a long time
• Thick legs due to fluid accumulation. However, this is a symptom in a later stage of prostate cancer.
• Blood in the urine
• Blood in the semen

It doesn’t have to be that you need all symptoms before you have prostate cancer. One of these symptoms may indicate prostate cancer. It’s also possible that prostate cancer is detected , and that you have different symptoms than the ones in the above list. The list of symptoms above shows only the most common symptoms of prostate cancer.

Who has an increased risk of prostate cancer

There are a number of factors that increase the risk of prostate cancer. These have the name: risk factors. The list below will mention the risk factors of prostate cancer.

• Age: the older you are, the greater the risk of prostate cancer. Eighty percent of the people with prostate cancer is 65 years or older. Ninety percent of the people who die from the effects of prostate cancer are also 65 years or older.
• Location: in some parts of the world (like Western Europe and the United States) there are a lot more people with prostate cancer than in other continents. It’s not known yet why people in these parts of the world are more infected. It probably has to do with ethnicity, nutrition and living conditions.
• Americans with a black skin colour have a higher risk of prostate cancer than other men.
• Heredity: prostate cancer is more frequent is some families than in other families. Men who have a father or son with prostate cancer, have an increased risk too. Several years ago a gene was found which fits with the genes of prostate cancer.
• XMRV infection (Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related) possibly forms an increased risk of prostate cancer (especially the most aggressive kind of prostate cancer). However, this is not scientifically proven.

Diagnosis of prostate cancer

When you go to your doctor with some symptoms, the chances are that he suspects that you have prostate cancer. If the doctor suspects this, he will try to make a diagnosis. The diagnosis will be done by three surveys, the one more pleasant than the other.

DRE 

When prostate cancer is suspected, the physical examination during the DRE will be the most important thing. The doctor will scan the surface of the prostate with a finger. In this case the doctor inserts a finger (usually the index finger) in the anus . By doing this he will get a picture of the situation. A specialist can often determine by an DRE whether there is a malignant tumor (=prostate cancer).

PSA 

The doctor will also get some blood to examine PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen). If the PSA is higher, this is an indication of prostate cancer. When PSA levels are higher, it doesn’t necessarily have to be prostate cancer, but you can also suffer from an enlarge prostate or an inflammation of the prostate. In all these cases an increased PSA value will be found.

Biopsy 

When the results of the DRE and blood test both indicate prostate cancer, a biopsy will be performed. A transrectal ultrasound of the prostate will be made, and a tube with a camera will be brought inside the rectum. If the foreign tissue is detected, a biopsy will be made. A pathologist can diagnose if it is prostate cancer or something else. 

Treatment of prostate cancer

As relatively few clinical studies of prostate cancer have been done, there is no way to say what treatment works the best. It’s important that the specialist in attendance informs the patient well about the treatment. Usually the specialist and the patient discuss what treatment is the best and this one will be executed. Often there will be a combination of treatments (like radiotherapy and chemotherapy) for a more optimal result. The following treatments can be used for prostate cancer:

• Watchful waiting: this is actually a variant of ‘no treatment’. This treatment is usually suitable for men who have prostate cancer in the initial stage, but where the complaints aren’t present yet. This treatment is also usually applied to older men. When the watchful waiting treatment applied, the patient must regularly visit a specialist for a DRE, a PSA test and a biopsy. After studying these results, it’s possible to change the treatment.
• Radical prostatectomy: this is an operation where the prostate, seminal vesicle and lymph nodes are removed. It’s a difficult operation which often entails risks. The operation will only be performed in very serious situations.
• External beam radiation therapy: with radiotherapy, multiple doses should be spread over several weeks, administered to the tumor.
• Internal irradiation: this is also called brachytherapy. It’s a variant of radiotherapy (radiation). In this case needles (filled with radioactive microspheres) are injected into the prostate. This is done by using general anesthesia or an epidural. Typically, this variant of treatment is performed with external radiation and hormone therapy.
• Hormonal treatment: during this treatment drugs will be taken by mouth or will be injected. These drugs block the action of androgens (the hormones that cause manhood ). This variant is also called (negative) chemical castration.
• Cryosurgery: this is the destruction of malignant tumor cells. This is done by freezing and thawing the tissue. This treatment isn’t standard in the Netherlands yet and it will only be processed under medical investigation.
• Chemotherapy: this variant of treatment is usually used when prostate cancer has metastasized.

Sources: www.todio.nl