What is prostate cancer? signs and symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment
Medically Reviewed by Dr Sravya, MBBS, MS
Introduction
Cancer that develops in the prostate is known as prostate cancer. The prostate is a small gland in men that resembles a walnut and produces seminal fluid, which nourishes and transports sperm.
One of the oldest prevalent cancers is prostate cancer. In the prostate gland, where they may not do much harm, many prostate tumors develop slowly and are localized. Although some prostate cancers spread slowly and may require little to no therapy, others are aggressive and may spread very quickly.
Table of Contents
- What is meant by prostate??
- Prostate cancer: what is it?
- Prostate cancer in its early stages?
- What variations of prostate cancer are there?
- Prostate cancer symptoms:
- Prostate cancer causes
- Various Tests for Identification of Prostate Cancer
- Methods for prostate cancer diagnosis
- Management and Treatment
- Integrated treatments
- Targeted treatment
- How can prostate cancer be avoided?
- conclusion
What is meant by prostate?
The prostate and seminal vesicles are parts of the male reproductive system. The prostate is around the same size as a walnut. The prostate is a bodily part with a diameter of a walnut. Two more compact pairs of glands, known as seminal vesicles, are joined to the prostates back. In the front of the rectum, below the bladder, is the prostate. It encloses the urethra, a small tube that carries urine from the bladder out through the penis.
The prostate and seminal vesicles primary function is to produce fluid for semen. The sperm goes via the urethra during ejaculation. At the same time, the fluid from the prostate and seminal vesicles simultaneously enter the urethra. Semen is a combination that exits the penis as excretes after passing through the urethra.
Prostate cancer: what is it?
The cause of cancer is the inappropriate development of cells, which interferes with normal cell function in the body and makes it more difficult for the body to function as it should. When abnormal cells start to form and multiply in the prostate gland, prostate cancer begins to spread. Not all tumors and other unusual growths are malignant (cancerous). Some tumors are benign (not malignant).
- Benign tumors: Similar to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), benign tumors do not represent a threat to human life. They don't spread to nearby tissue or other parts of the body. These growths can be removed, and while they sometimes do not come back, they may do so slowly.
- Cancerous growths: including prostate cancer, can "metastasize" (spread to other areas of the body) or to neighboring organs and tissues, such as the bladder or rectum. Even when the abnormal growth is eliminated, it may return. If prostate cancer (metastatic illness) spreads widely outside of the prostate, it may be fatal.
Prostatecancer develops in this little walnut-shaped region that is found behind the bladder and in the front of the rectum in males and those who were assigned male at birth (AMAB).This tiny gland creates a fluid that combines with semen to keep sperm healthy for conception and fertilization.
The disease of prostate cancer is dangerous. Fortunately, the majority of men with prostate cancer are identified before the disease has spread past the prostate gland. When cancer is treated at this stage, it frequently vanishes.
Prostate cancer in its early stages?
When cancer cells are exclusively identified in the prostate or even slightly outside of it (extraprostatic extension), prostate cancer remains localized and does not spread to other body organs. Prostate cancer is regarded as advanced if it spreads to other bodily parts.
Prostate cancer is typically divided into four phases.
- Stage I and Stage II: Early stage: The prostate tumor has not left the organ. The terms "early-stage" and "localized" are frequently used to describe this prostate cancer.
- Locally progressive: Stage III: The prostate has not yet been affected by cancer that has spread to adjacent tissues. Common terminology for it is locally advanced prostate cancer
- Advanced | Stage IV: Prostate cancer has advanced to stage IV, which means it has spread to adjacent tissues, including the lymph nodes, lungs, bones, or liver. It is common to refer to this stage as advanced prostate cancer.
What variations of prostate cancer are there?
If you are given a prostate cancer diagnosis, it is most likely an adenocarcinoma. Adenocarcinomas begin in the cells of glands that release fluid, such as your prostate. Rarely, different cell types can develop into prostate cancer.
Less typical prostate tumors include:
- Cancers with few cells
- Cancers of the transitional cells.
- Neuropathic tumors.
Prostate cancer symptoms:
Rarely do symptoms of early-stage prostate cancer appear. As the illness advances, several problems could arise:
- Frequent and occasionally urgent urge to urinate, especially at night.
- Urine flow that is weak or irregular
- Dysuria is the condition of experiencing pain or burning while urinating.
- Bladder control issues (incontinence).
- Fecal incontinence is another name for bowel incontinence.
- Erectile dysfunction (ED) and painful ejaculation.
- Hematospermia, or blood in the sperm or urine
- Your chest, hips, or lower back may hurt.
- These are the various prostate cancer symptoms.
Prostate cancer causes
Although there is no known cause of prostate cancer, there are several factors that can raise a mans chance of developing the condition.
- Age: Mens risk of developing prostate cancer increases as they get older. Men over the age of 55 are more likely to cause harm to the DNA (or genetic material) of prostate cells.
- Racial background: Men of African-American descent are more likely to contract the illness. Prostate cancer will be found in one in six African-American men. Men of Asian American and Hispanic/Latino descent are less likely to get prostate cancer than men of non-Hispanic white descent.
- Family background: Prostate cancer is more likely to affect men who have a grandpa, father, or sibling who has the condition. Males are more likely to develop prostate cancer if they have relatives who have had breast or ovarian cancer.
- Weight: According to studies, men in their 50s and later who are overweight are more likely to have advanced prostate cancer. To lower the risk, doctors advise maintaining a healthy weight.
- Other prostate cancer risk factors have been discovered in certain studies; however, the evidence is conflicting. Other possible risk elements include:
- Having obesity or a BMI of 30 or above.
- STIs, or sexually transmitted infections.
- Exposure to the chemical Agent Orange, which was employed in the Vietnam War
Various Tests for Identification of Prostate Cancer
In what way is prostate cancer identified?
Screenings enable the early identification of prostate cancer. If your risk is typical, you’ll probably undergo your first screening procedures at age 55. If you fall into the high-risk category, you could need testing sooner. Screenings typically come to an end at age 70. If screenings reveal you could have prostate cancer, you might require more testing or procedures.
Testing for prostate cancer detection
- Screening tests may indicate that more testing is required due to the presence of prostate cancer symptoms.
- Digital rectal examination: rectal examination: Using fingertips that have been cleaned and gloved, your doctor touches your prostate gland. Cancer may be present in a lump or hard area.
- Blood test for prostate-specific antigen (PSA): A PSA-related protein is created by the prostate gland. Cancer may be indicated by high PSA levels. Levels also rise if you have benign conditions like BPH or prostatitis.
Methods for prostate cancer diagnosis
Not every prostate cancer patient will need a specific diagnosis. For instance, if your doctor believes that your tumor is developing slowly, they can decide against conducting any additional testing since they don’t think it has to be treated. You could require more tests, such as a biopsy if its more aggressive (growing quickly or spreading).
- Imaging: Your prostate gland and any suspicious-looking areas that might be cancerous can be spotted on an MRI as well as a transrectal ultrasound. Your doctor can decide whether or not to do a biopsy with the help of imaging data.
- Biopsy: During a procedure known as a biopsy, a medical professional takes a sample of tissue to be examined for cancer in a laboratory. A biopsy is the only method that can reliably detect prostate cancer and assess its aggressiveness. The biopsy tissue may be subjected to genetic testing by your doctor. Some cancer cells contain traits (such as mutations) that increase their propensity to respond to particular therapies.
- In this way, prostate cancer diagnosis can be done by physicians.
Management and Treatment
Prostate cancer treatment:
How are these conditions managed or treated?
How you are treated will depend on several factors, including your general health, the extent of the disease, and how quickly it is spreading. Depending on your therapy options, you might work with urologists, radiation oncologists, and medical oncologists.
Specific methods employed Surveillance:
Your doctor might decide to watch you rather than treat you if your cancer grows slowly and doesn't spread.
- Active surveillance: You get screenings, scans, and biopsies every one to three years to actively monitor the progression of cancer. Active monitoring is the most beneficial treatment if the cancer is confined to your prostate, is developing slowly, and isn't producing any symptoms. Your doctor can begin treating you if your problem gets worse.
- Attentive waiting: Active surveillance is comparable to watchful waiting, but it is more frequently applied to frailer cancer patients who are unlikely to respond to treatment. Testing occurs significantly less frequently as well. Treatments frequently concentrate on treating symptoms rather than removing the tumor.
Integrated treatments
Systemic therapy may be recommended by your doctor if the cancer has spread beyond your prostate gland. Systemic therapy circulates drugs through your body to kill cancer cells or stop them from proliferating.
- Hormone therapy: Testosterone encourages the growth of cancer cells in hormone therapy. Hormone therapy makes use of medications to combat testosterone's role in the growth of cancer cells. The drugs either lower your testosterone levels or stop testosterone from getting to cancer cells, which is how they function. As an alternative, your doctor can advise having your testicles surgically removed (orchiectomy) to stop them from producing testosterone. Those who prefer not to use medicine can choose this operation.
- Chemotherapy: Drugs are used in chemotherapy to kill cancer cells. If your cancer has gone past your prostate, you may undergo hormone treatment in addition to or instead of chemotherapy.
- Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy helps your immune system get stronger so it can recognize and combat cancer cells more effectively. To treat cancer that is advanced or cancer that recurs (cancer that goes away but then comes back), your doctor may advise immunotherapy.
- Targeted therapy: Targeted therapy deals with the genetic changes (mutations) that turn healthy cells into cancer cells to stop cancer cells from multiplying and dividing. Cancer cells with BRCA gene abnormalities are destroyed by targeted therapy for prostate cancer.
Targeted treatment
A more recent method of treatment called focal therapy eliminates malignancies inside the prostate. If the cancer is low-risk and hasn’t spread, your doctor might advise this treatment. The majority of these therapies are currently regarded as experimental.
- High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU): Strong heat is produced by high- intensity sound waves to kill cancer cells in your prostate.
- Cryotherapy: Freezing prostate cancer cells with cold gases destroys the tumor.
- Laser ablation: By killing the cancer cells in your prostate with intense heat, the tumor is removed.
- Photodynamic therapy: Drugs increase the sensitivity of cancer cells to specific light wavelengths. These light wavelengths are applied by a medical professional to eliminate cancer cells.
How can prostate cancer be avoided?
Prostate cancer cannot be prevented. Nevertheless, adhering to these guidelines may reduce your risk:
Have frequent prostate exams. According to your risk factors, ask your healthcare professional how frequently you should get checked.
- Keep a healthy weight. Find out from your doctor what a healthy weight is for you.
- Exercise regularly: More than 20 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each day, or 150 minutes per week, is advised by the CDC.
- Consume a healthy diet: While there isn't a single diet that will prevent cancer, healthy eating practices can enhance your general well-being. Eat entire grains, fruits, and veggies. Steer clear of processed foods and red meat.
- Give up smoking: Dont use tobacco products. If you do smoke, work on quitting with the help of your healthcare physician.
Conclusion:
When detected early and treated properly, prostate cancer can frequently be successfully treated. Many patients who receive a diagnosis when the cancer has not gone past the prostate continue to lead healthy lives after therapy for several years. However, in a tiny percentage of cases, the illness can be aggressive as well as swiftly spread across different body parts. According to your risk factors, your healthcare professional can talk about the ideal screening schedule. Depending on how quickly or slowly your cancer is spreading, they can suggest the best course of action.