Prostate Cancer Treatment

While many men cite that it is not a very fun procedure, prostate checkups are extremely important to ensure health and wellness. A prostate checkup is also referred to as a digital rectal exam and usually involves a medical professional inserting a gloved and lubricated finger into the man’s rectum. During this examination, medical professionals are looking for abnormalities along the prostate, such as lumps, bumps and spots. The exam may not indicate what is wrong, but it does answer the question if further testing must take place.

According to the National Alliance of State Prostate Cancer Coalitions, men at the age of 40 and on should have regular, annual prostate checkups. As men become older, they become prone to a number of diseases. There are two main reasons for the checkup. For one, medical professionals can check for benign prostatic hyperplasia as well as prostatitis. Benign prostatic hyperplasia refers to an enlarged prostate which can compress the urethra, causing bladder retention. Prostatitis refers to the inflammation of the prostate. A prostate checkup will tell the medical professional that prostatitis exists; however, further checking will determine whether it is acute bacterial prostatitis, chronic bacterial prostatitis, chronic prostatitis without infection, or asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis. Whichever one it is, the medical professional will be able to dictate the right course of treatment.

Prostate checkups are also the best form of early detection for prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is extremely common and approximately one out of six men will be diagnosed with this form of cancer in their life. The early stages of prostate cancer are known to be asymptomatic and can only be detected with a prostate examination. Many men can lives years without ever noticing until it is too late. If detected early enough with this checkup, prostate cancer can be cured and survival rates go way up.

There are a number of factors that may put some men more at risk for prostate cancer than others, including age, family history of cancer, hereditary, lifestyle and race. If a family has a history of prostate cancer, it is extremely important that they get checked as well. And while men cannot control their heredity, age, family history and race, they can control their lifestyle. A number of cases of cancer have been linked with obesity. Therefore, maintaining a healthy diet and active lifestyle will lower one’s risk of prostate cancer…not to mention a number of other health conditions.

Aside from the prostate, the prostate checkup can find a number of other health concerns. This can include the inspection and evaluation of hemorrhoids and tumors in the area. If a man has a neurological disease or fecal incontinence, a prostate checkup is often utilized to estimate the overall tonicity of the man’s anal sphincter.

The significance of a yearly prostate checkup can never be stressed enough. Numerous men die every year due to prostate cancer, which could have been evaded with a simple prostate checkup with their doctor.

Central Maryland Urology Associates (CMUA) HIFU Center was established in 2010 for the treatment of localized prostate cancer using HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound).Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in men, and is the second leading cause of cancer death in men after lung cancer.

Cancer is a condition that none of us would ever want to have. No matter how healthy you think you are, there is always that remote possibility that you would contract cancer. In the case of prostate cancer, men are obviously the ones that are affected. In this article, we would be discussing the basics of prostate cancer, it’s most common signs and symptoms and the diagnostic procedures employed to identify the condition.

Cancer of the prostate gland happens when cancer cells develop in the prostate. This is a gland found at the bottom of the urinary bladder. A normal sized prostate would be around the size of a walnut. As men grow older, it is normal for the prostate to also enlarge. However, abnormal enlargement of the prostate that is caused by imbalances in the hormones is called Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia or BPH. This is different from prostate cancer in a way that BPH can be operated on and does not metastasize. Treatment for prostate cancer would involve the use of surgery, chemotherapeutic drugs and/or radiation.

In prostate cancer, cancer cells gather in the area and slowly grow into a cancerous tumor. The cancer cells might have been there for a while before any symptoms become evident. However, not all symptoms are similar and not all cancer cells act the same way. There are those that proliferate fast, while there are others that progress more slowly. The aggressiveness of cancer growth can be measured by the Gleason Score.

Though both cancer of the prostate gland and benign prostatic hyperplasia increase the size of the prostate, medical findings state that they are not related. Factors that might predispose a person to getting prostate cancer would be the following: age, gender, genetics, race, hormones and exposure to toxins.

It is best to know which prostate cancer symptoms to watch out for so that you would be able to get consultation at the soonest time possible. A person with suspected prostate cancer would be found to have a hard nodule in the prostate area during a routine digital rectal exam. In some cases, where the cancer is in its advanced stages, the prostate may become too enlarged that they would impede the flow of urine. For others, they would notice blood in their urine, also called hematuria. This bleeding is painless, a very common sign of cancer. These are the most common symptoms of cancer and this usually prompts patients to seek consultation.

Screening for cancer of the prostate gland would involve getting blood work done. The technologist would be looking for the cancer marker PSA or prostate specific antigen. A result that is higher than 4ng/ml is usually observed in people with prostate cancer.

A digital rectal exam was mentioned earlier. During this exam, an enlarged prostate would be felt by the examiner, and this would prompt for further evaluation.

A biopsy is needed to make an accurate conclusion of prostate cancer. A tissue sample would be sent to the laboratory and they would be testing the sample for cancer cells.

In this day and age of increased pollution and free radicals, cancer is something that most of us are most prone to. It is best to get regular testing in order to spot the disease as soon as possible.

The prostate is a chestnut shaped gland located in men under the bladder in front of the rectum. Prostate cancer occurs when cells within the prostate grow out of control, creating tumors. It is the leading cause of cancer in American men. The risk of getting prostate cancer increases with age. Over 700,000 cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed worldwide each year. For early stages of prostate cancer, signs and symptoms are usually not evident. Prostate cancer is rare in men under 50, but those with a family history should get checked regularly.

In order to confirm cancer stages in the prostate, a biopsy must be performed. If the biopsy confirms that cancer exists, the next step is to know what stage the cancer is in. The prostate cancer stage will help determine the best course of treatment to take. Various tests are done to determine if the cancer has spread, including imaging and blood tests. The clinical stage uses results fro the digital rectal exam, trans-rectal ultrasound or needle biopsy.

A common staging system used for prostate cancer is the TNM system. This means T-Tumor, N-Nodes and M-Metastasize. First, the size and extent of the primary tumor is described/measured. Then checks are done to see of the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes or metastasized elsewhere.

In the T stages (T1-T4) the cancer is rated from 0 to 4 depending on evidence of the cancer being localized in the prostate gland and surrounding areas. For T-0, there is no evidence of a primary tumor in the prostate. T-1 (a, b, or c) shows a tumor in the prostate, with a less than 5%, b greater than 5% and c -there is evidence of a tumor as identified by a needle biopsy. For T-2 stages, the tumor is confined within the prostate. In the T2a stag, the tumor affects one-half or less of one lobe, In the T2b stage, the tumor affects more than half of one lobe but not both lobes. For T2c, the tumor affects both lobes. When the tumors are confined to the prostate in stages T1-T2, the disease usually has cure rates of 90% or higher.

T3a stage indicates the tumor has extended beyond the prostate capsule. Stage T3b, the tumor has invaded the seminal vesicle. For stage T4, the tumor has invaded surrounding areas.

One of the best treatments for prostate cancer (T1 and T2 stages and some T3 cases) is High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, since the cure rate is very high, but it is non-surgical and non-invasive, so side effects are minimal. Speak to your urologist about HIFU and other forms of treatment if you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer. HIFU is particularly suited to younger men (50-75) who don’t want the risk of impotency and incontinence generally associated with prostate cancer surgery. For more information, you can view the Hifu.ca website, as they are the oldest and most popular HIFU clinic in North America, and provide a wealth of information on options, stages and research.