Prostate Cancer: Causes & Treatment Options

Prostate gland is located below a man’s bladder & which produces fluid for semen. Prostate cancer is an awful disease that affects only men. Prostate cancer is common in older men. It is rare among men younger than 40 years of age. Prostate cancer begins to grow in a gland called prostate located within the male reproductive organ. Prostate cancer is a slow growing disease. In fact, many of the men who die of old age never come to know that they were ever suffering from the prostate cancer. The doctor comes to know about it only when the autopsy is done.

Causes of Prostate Cancer

Experts state that prostate cancer starts with tiny alterations in the shape and size of prostate gland cells called prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN). During early stages of prostate cancer, there are no symptoms depicting its presence. It may randomly be detected during a blood test or routine checkup. The actual cause behind prostate cancer is unknown however there are many possible factors that add to it. Some of these factors are listed below.

• Age: Prostate cancer risk goes up as men get older and are much more common after the age of 50 years.
  
• Race: US African-American men are more likely to get prostate cancer than other men.
  
• Family History: Men with some close family member who has had prostate cancer are more likely to get affected by it themselves.
  
• Genetics: Some inherited genes seem to raise risk of prostate cancer.
  
• Diet: Men who eat a lot of red meat or high-fat dairy product seem to have greater chances of developing prostate cancer.
  
• Medication: Some studies say there might be a link between daily use of anti-inflammatory medicines and prostate cancer.
  
• Obesity: Some studies have found that obese men have greater chance of suffering from advanced prostate cancer and dying because of it.
  
• Sexually Transmitted Disease: Men who have had gonorrhea have higher chance of developing prostate cancer.

Prostate Cancer Treatment

Treatment for prostate cancer is very much dependent on what kind of cancer an individual is having. However, there are some treatment options available to treat prostate cancer depending upon the size and type of cancer. If the cancer is small and localized then available options include the following.

• Surveillance: Carefully observing growth of prostate tumor as they are slow growing and monitored through regular PSA blood levels.
  
• Brachytherapy: Radioactive seeds are implanted in prostate gland & which deliver high radiation doses to the tumor while reducing radiation exposure to the surrounding healthy tissue.
  
• Conformal Radiotherapy: This option allows the treatment team to plan radiotherapy treatment area very precisely in 3D dimensions - width, height and depth.
  
• Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy: Intensity of radiation can be changed during treatment to spare adjoining normal tissue. It is a type of conformal radiotherapy which shapes radiation beam to closely approximate shape of the tumor.
  
• Surgery: Surgery is the most common choice for prostate cancer treatment if it has not spread outside the prostate gland. The most common type of surgery is radical prostatectomy in which the surgeon removes the entire prostate gland.

Although it is hard to understand presence of prostate cancer without proper diagnosis, but when diagnosed there are many options available for treatment. Doctors usually analyze the type of cancer and select the best treatment option available.

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Evolution of Neck and Back Surgery

The primary purpose of neck or back surgery is to correct an anatomical lesion in individuals who fail to show enhancement with conservative, that is, non – surgical treatment. Surgery isn’t an option for those patients whose anatomical lesion accounting for their pain cannot be identified. Surgery is useful only if there is a need to change the patients’ anatomy. Like for example, to remove disc herniation. There is no particular reason to consider an exploratory surgery to look for a source of pain. An unsuccessful conservative treatment is itself a sign for surgery. A noticeable anatomic lesion is also necessary.

Evolution in Spine Surgery

Present – day spine surgery has made major developments in both spinal implants and technique over the past couple of decades, but even until today the most remarkable progress in spine surgery has been better pre – operative imaging techniques, which have been greatly improved the ability of the surgeons to spot accurately and correct an anatomic lesion as a source of pain.

Definitely, MRI scan (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) has transformed back surgery. It is the most frequent and the best test to recognize an anatomical lesion responsible for the patient’s problem. The most vital factor in the resolution of the success in spine surgery is proper pre – operative diagnosis. Without an appropriate pre – operative diagnosis, even the most technically successful operations have a little chance for a successful result.

Though spine surgery is done by either neurosurgeons or orthopedic surgeons, it is more and more becoming a field unto itself. Many surgeons are doing extra specialized training in the field after their residency training. Given the precision needed for these more demanding surgical techniques, many neurosurgeons or orthopedic surgeons with fellowship training are choosing to concentrate more of their practice on spine surgery. Some trust that the increased level of special training and concentration on the spine have donated to enhancements in surgical techniques, which in turn have led to overall better success rates and minimized morbidity with many types of spine surgeries. For example, the reduced post – operative discomfort.

Objective of Spine Surgery 

Spine surgery is generally an elective undertaking, which means that it is observed as a possible approach to increase a patient’s ability to function and reduce pain. Anyhow, just because spine surgery is elective doesn’t mean that it is not covered by insurance. Elective surgery may be medically necessary. ‘Elective’ means that the surgery of spine is seldom an absolute necessity. Only in exceptional instances, like for patients who have a progressive neurological loss of function or sudden start of bladder or bowel incontinence, is spinal surgery is actually mandatory on an emergency basis.

Spine surgery can basically achieve three tasks:

1. Decompress the spinal cord or a nerve root.
2. Stabilize a painful or an unstable segment with spinal fusion surgery.
3. Reduce a distortion (for e.g. scoliosis surgery in the thoracic spine).

Spine surgery isn’t done for exploration. The source of a patient’s pain isn’t readily apparent with exploring and opening the spine. The pre – operative evaluation and imaging results are what identifies the problem and guide the diagram of the procedure. 

For details on Spine Surgery Techniques and Cost in India, Contact Us at info@travcure.com

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