What is Prostate Cancer?

What is Prostate Cancer?
The prostate is the part of the male reproductive system which is the size of a walnut and which is located just in front of the rectum and below the bladder. The prostate works by making some of the milky fluid that carries sperm.

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer that men develop, and so if you are a man or even if you are married to one, you are going to want to make sure that you are aware of the symptoms that are associated with the condition so that you will know what to look out for, especially if they are older in age, over the age of 65.


Prostate Cancer
There are a few important details in particular about prostate cancer that you should be aware of. One is that the causes of prostate cancer may not be what you would expect. Did you know that this cancer runs in families, and so if your parent or grandparent had the disease, you are much more likely to develop it as well?

This is important to know, and definitely a reason as to why you should look back onto your family history to see what sort of health problems they dealt with and whether prostate cancer was one of them.

Treatment
Of course no matter what the cause may be, if you develop this cancer, you are going to need to get to work on prostate cancer treatment as soon as possible. Your doctor is going to be there to work with you through this, but they are going to need to be aggressive and get to work right away, before the cancer spreads and possibly even becomes life threatening.

There are fortunately a few different options that are available for treating prostate cancer these days. Before you can successfully go through with any treatment, you will need to have a prostate-specific antigen test, which is a test that is going to measure the level of PSA in the blood.

Your doctor may also suggest you get a transrectal ultrasound, which is a procedure in which a probe that is about the size of a finger is inserted into the rectum, and will check the prostate. This will be able to let your doctor know what they are dealing with here and make sure that they are going to opt for the most suitable treatment.

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Prostate Gland
Prostate Health
Prostate Problem

Most Popular Prostate Tips
A Brief Introduction To Prostate Nodules
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Best Latest Treatment on Prostate Cancer

Prostate Cancer 
Prostate cancer is a deadly disease that strikes men in the United States and all over the world, especially in men over fifty. Prostate cancer is easily prevented and treated if caught soon enough, but there isn’t too much that can be done if the cancer spreads beyond a certain point. Even so, there are likely to be complications and death if the latest treatment isn’t applied in time. There are several methods which are considered to be the best and latest treatment on prostate cancer, and they all vary according to effectiveness and side effects.

The most common of the latest treatments on prostate cancer are ultrasound therapy, cryosurgery and hormone therapy. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but all are effective to some degree. Ultrasound therapy, the first alternative prostate cancer treatment, uses heat waves to heat up and destroy the damaged and infected tissue. It’s somewhat like focusing sunlight through a magnifying glass. Sound waves are focused onto a single point, which excites the molecules of the tissue and causes it to heat up. This is widely considered to be one of the most effective treatments because it prevents recurrence without too many side effects.

Cryosurgery as the Latest Treatment on Prostate Cancer
Cryosurgery works opposite from ultrasound – it freezes the tissue by pumping argon gas through hollow metal rods. The freezing causes the water in cells to expand and burst the cells, thus killing the tissue. Cryosurgery is an effective way to keep the cancer from recurring, but it does often cause impotence due to the prostate being frozen. However, there is little risk of the future need for latest treatment on prostate cancer. In the hands of an experienced cryosurgeon, this is one of the more effective method, but not as much as ultrasound.

Another method is hormone therapy. The purpose of hormone therapy to cancer cells is to prevent them from spreading or growing any further than they have. In some case, the growth can even be caused to shrink. This is effective only in the very early stages of latest treatment on prostate cancer, because after a while the cancer becomes resistant to the attempts to deprive it of dihydrogen testosterone. Generally, this is considered to be a method only used early on. It’s really meant more to do damage control than it is to work with curing the cancer itself. However, as a technique to stop the spreading of cancer, it’s effective.

Browse Prostate
Prostate Biopsy
Prostate Cancer
Prostate Exam
Prostate Gland
Prostate Health
Prostate Problem

Most Popular Prostate Tips
A Brief Introduction To Prostate Nodules
Prostate Biopsy Risks: Spreading Of Cancerous Cells
Prostate Biopsy Procedure Explained
Identifying The Signs Of Prostate Problems
There Are Some Potential Prostate Biopsy Problems

A Brief Introduction To Prostate Nodules

Prostate Nodules 
A prostate nodule is any growth on the prostate which can be felt upon a digital rectal examination. Characterized as hard, soft, smooth or gritty, prostate nodules or the thickening in some portions of the prostate often develop as men grow older.

The evaluation for a prostate nodule may be included in the evaluation for prostitis or a possible infection. As a rule, all prostate nodules found require further evaluation to rule out the possibility of cancer, which may come without any other symptom.

Benign Prostate Nodules
A nodule does not automatically mean that cancer is present. Hard, rocky nodules may indicate calcification or a case of benign prostatic hyperplasia, where the epithelial and prostatic stromal cells multiply and grow large enough to form large nodules around the periurethral region of the prostate. Surgical removal is often necessary if the nodule has grown large enough to block the urethral canal and cause problems with urination. Sometimes, after a PSA test has shown borderline or elevated levels and there is presence of an infection, the doctor may initially put the patient in antibiotics for 2 to 4 weeks, after which the tests are repeated. If all tests are normal within this time, cancer can be ruled out, although a repeat exam is needed in 3 to 6 months.

Cancerous Prostate Nodules
About 50% of prostate nodules are malignant. Although a digital rectal examination cannot determine whether a nodule is cancerous or not, a biopsy can. A biopsy often follows when the doctor finds abnormal results from a Prostate Specific Antigen test. Once the biopsy has revealed cancer, important variables which are then taken into consideration will include grading and staging. Grading of the cancerous prostate nodule makes use of the Gleason score, which determines the degree of abnormality of the prostate cells from 2 (least aggressive) to 10 (most aggressive).

Staging, on the other hand is done on the basis of the DRE. A cancerous nodule is staged as follows:
T1c (PSA detected)

T2a (small prostate nodule)

T2b (larger prostate nodule)

T3 (very large prostate nodule with probable spread outside of the prostate)

T4 (prostate cancer spreading into adjacent organ such as the bladder)

Prevention And Treatment Of Prostate Nodules

There is no known cause why the prostate tends to enlarge as men get older, and why some men found to have prostate nodules develop prostate cancer and some don’t. Experts think genes and diet may play a role. Good nutrition may contribute to overall prostate health. Men who eat fruits and vegetables, foods that naturally contain antioxidants like lycopene and minerals like selenium lowered their risk for the disease significantly.

For men in their forties or older, an annual DRE may be necessary, especially for high-risk individuals. In some cases, whether the nodule is benign or malignant, surgical excision or complete removal of the nodule may become necessary.

Browse Prostate
Prostate Biopsy
Prostate Cancer
Prostate Exam
Prostate Gland
Prostate Health
Prostate Problem

Most Popular Prostate Tips
A Brief Introduction To Prostate Nodules
Prostate Biopsy Risks: Spreading Of Cancerous Cells
Prostate Biopsy Procedure Explained
Identifying The Signs Of Prostate Problems
There Are Some Potential Prostate Biopsy Problems