Prostate Cancer, know the risks, know the facts, know your
options.
Prostate Cancer Awareness Month is a national campaign dedicated
to increasing attention to prostate cancer issues. One man in
six will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime.
More than 2 million men in the United States who have been
diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point are still alive
today.(1)
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in
American men, behind only lung cancer. One man in 36 will die of
prostate cancer. Prostate cancer accounts for about 11% of
cancer-related deaths in men.(1)
What are the risk factors for Prostate
Cancer?
Age
Age is the strongest risk factor for prostate cancer. Almost 2
out of 3 prostate cancers are found in men over the age of
65.(2)
Race/Ethnicity
Prostate cancer occurs more often in African-American men than
in men of other races. African-American men are also more likely to
be diagnosed at an advanced stage, and are more than twice as
likely to die of prostate cancer as white men. Prostate cancer
occurs less often in Asian-American and Hispanic/Latino men than in
non-Hispanic whites.(2)
Family history
Prostate cancer seems to run in some families, which suggests
that in some cases there may be an inherited or genetic factor.
Having a father or brother with prostate cancer more than doubles a
man's risk of developing this disease. (The risk is higher for men
with an affected brother than for those with an affected father.)
The risk is much higher for men with several affected relatives,
particularly if their relatives were young at the time the cancer
was found.(2)
Symptoms of Prostate Cancer
Early prostate cancer usually causes no symptoms and is most
often found by a PSA test and/or DRE. Some advanced prostate
cancers can slow or weaken your urinary stream or make you need to
urinate more often. But non-cancerous diseases of the prostate,
such as BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia) cause these symptoms
more often.(3)
If the prostate cancer is advanced, you might have blood in your
urine (hematuria) or trouble getting an erection (impotence).
Advanced prostate cancer commonly spreads to the bones, which can
cause pain in the hips, spine, ribs, or other areas. Cancer that
has spread to the spine can also press on the spinal nerves, which
can result in weakness or numbness in the legs or feet, or even
loss of bladder or bowel control.(3)
Other diseases can also cause many of these same symptoms. It is
important to tell your doctor if you have any of these problems so
that the cause can be found and treated.(3)
If certain symptoms or the results of early detection tests --
the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test and/or digital
rectal exam (DRE) -- suggest that you might have prostate cancer,
your doctor will do a prostate biopsy to find out if the disease is
present.
Diagnosis and Treatment Options
Screening refers to testing to find a disease such as cancer in
people who do not have symptoms of that disease. For some types of
cancer, screening can help find cancers in an early stage when they
are more easily cured.
Prostate cancer can often be found early by testing the amount
of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood.
Another way to find prostate cancer is the digital rectal exam
(DRE), in which your doctor puts a gloved finger into the
rectum to feel the prostate gland. If the results of either one of
these tests are abnormal, further testing is needed to see if there
is a cancer.(4)
If prostate cancer is found during screening with the PSA test
or DRE, your cancer will likely be at an early, more treatable
stage than if no screening were done.
The American Cancer Society recommends that men have a
chance to make an informed decision with their health care provider
about whether to be screened for prostate cancer. They should first
get information about what is known and what is not known about the
risks and possible benefits of prostate cancer screening. Men
should not be screened unless they have received this
information.(4)
- The talk about screening should take place at age 50 for men
who are at average risk of prostate cancer and are expected to live
at least 10 more years.(4)
- This talk should take place starting at age 45 for men at high
risk of getting prostate cancer. This includes African American men
and men who have a father, brother, or son found to have prostate
cancer at an early age (younger than age 65).(4)
- This talk should take place at age 40 for men at even higher
risk (those with several family members-- father, brother, son) who
had prostate cancer at an early age). Men who choose to be tested
who have a PSA of less than 2.5 ng/ml may only need to be retested
every 2 years. Screening should be done yearly for men whose PSA
level is 2.5 ng/ml or higher.(4)
Even after a decision about testing has been made, men and their
doctors should keep on talking about the pros and cons of testing
as new information about the benefits and risks of testing becomes
known. The patient's health, values, and choices can change as
well.(4)
Several different treatments and combinations of
treatments may be used, including:
To learn more about radiation therapy for prostate cancer visit
the Radiation Oncology of Central NY web site at www.radiationoncologyservicespc.com
1. What are the key statistics about prostate cancer?
American Cancer Society. (2010.) Retrieved August 5, 2010,
from
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/ProstateCancer/DetailedGuide/prostate-cancer-key-statistics
2. What are the risk factors for prostate cancer? American
Cancer Society. (2010.) Retrieved August 5, 2010. from
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/ProstateCancer/DetailedGuide/prostate-cancer-risk-factors
3. What are the signs and symptoms of prostate cancer?
American Cancer Society. (2010.) Retrieved August 5, 2010, from
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/ProstateCancer/MoreInformation/ProstateCancerEarlyDetection/prostate-cancer-early-detection-symptoms-of-prostate-cancer
4. How is prostate cancer found? American Cancer Society.
(2010.) Retrieved August 5, 2010, from
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/ProstateCancer/OverviewGuide/prostate-cancer-overview-diagnosed
