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.
ALSO READ: Robotic Prostate Surgery
