Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United States. Although the cause is not known, most researchers believe that alterations in testosterone metabolism and/or bodily responses to testosterone appear to be involved.
Throughout the world, autopsy reports show that evidence of microscopic prostate cancer is extremely common in older men. However, most men who have such microscopic disease are never diagnosed with, nor do they die from, prostate cancer. Unlike this dormant form of the disease, the incidence of potentially life-threatening prostate cancer varies greatly in different parts of the world. Researchers believe that some factors, possibly involving diet or lifestyle issues, determine the risk of having potentially life-threatening prostate cancer.
American men are at high risk of being diagnosed with such prostate cancer, and African-American men are at particularly high risk, for reasons that are not completely clear. A family history of prostate cancer increases the risk to a limited extent. Farmers, mechanics, workers in tire and rubber manufacturing, sheet metal workers, and workers exposed to cadmium have also been reported to be at increased risk.
What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?
Prostate cancer usually grows slowly, initially producing no symptoms. Later in the course of the disease, symptoms that overlap with symptoms of prostatic hyperplasia, a very common benign condition, may appear. Some of these symptoms include frequent urination (including having to urinate more frequently at night), pain on urination, a weak urinary stream, dribbling after urination, and a sensation of incomplete emptying. In addition, blood may appear in urine. None of these symptoms is specific to prostate cancer; the diagnosis of this disease requires the help of a doctor.
If prostate cancer spreads to a distant part of the body, it most often is found in bone, a condition that may cause bone pain. Late stages of the disease are associated with severe weight loss, untreatable fatigue-inducing anemia, and finally death.
How is it treated?
Conventional treatment of men with prostate cancer varies depending on the age and health of the patient, extent of the cancer, and to some degree, the views of the treating oncologist. Surgical removal of the prostate gland is often performed if the cancer appears to be contained within the prostate gland.
Radiation is also commonly used to treat men with prostate cancer, sometimes instead of surgery. External beam radiation delivers radiation from a machine. In brachytherapy, radiation comes instead from tiny radioactive seeds inserted directly into the prostate.
Anti-hormone therapy directed at interfering with the body’s ability to make testosterone is also commonly used in men with prostate cancer. Surgical removal of the testicles (orchiectomy) is one treatment aimed at halting testosterone production. Drugs that prevent the production or block the action of testosterone are often used instead of orchiectomy. These treatments cannot cure prostate cancer, but they often slow the cancer’s growth and reduce the tumor size.
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