The prostate cancer is a disease affecting only men since the prostate is the male-specific gland responsible for making the seminal fluid and because of this any hormonal unbalance will affect gravely the well functioning of this organ.



Cancer, and more exactly prostate cancer develops whenever the process of cell division known as mitosis runs amok and when the apoptotic reaction or the cell death fail to function properly; this is one of the main reasons why this disease is also seen as an abnormal medical condition caused mainly by hormonal problems.


In the first stages the malignant tumor is organ-confined, that basically means that the cancer cells are found only in the prostate gland; on the staging system this basically means that cancer is in stage I or II. If the cancerous cells have escaped from the prostate capsule and entered the bloodstream or the lymph fluid and lymph system, the cancer becomes locally advanced or stage III and if the primary tumor had given birth to some other secondary but small tumors in far distanced areas from the prostate gland, that basically means that the cancer had become metastatic, this being the stage IV.



That staging process is done with the help of the tumor, nodes and metastatic or the TNM system or with the Whitmore-Jewett staging system but before staging, the cancer has to be identified or diagnosed. This is done with the routinely screening tests or for a more accurate result, with the prostate biopsy procedure or the new method of detection, the prostate mapping.

The screening tests don’t actually indicate de existence or non-existence of cancer, but by palpating the prostate gland you can determine whether the size of it is normal or if on the surface a node or a lump is felt, this examination being known as the digital rectal exam; the prostate specific antigen blood test is a tumor marker or a biological one, indicating the level of the prostate specific antigen, which in normal conditions should be low.


If cancer is identified after analyzing some tissue parts of the infected gland with the help of the biopsy, the grading process is the next step in prescribing the right treatment for the cancer. The grading is done by using the Gleason scale, and the higher the grade is, the more aggressive the tumor can be.


Cancer is a treatable disease, even curable, if it is detected in the early stages and if the patient responds well to the initial treatment, but we can’t say for certainty that the cancer is definitely cured because, even if the safe period of minimum five years after the initial treatment had passed, there is always the possibility of recurrence. In the worst cases, patients have reported more aggressive forms of cancer like the apparition of two or more metastatic tumors this being the stage of metastases.

Even though, each year new discoveries in treatment are announced, the conventional and common treatment methods for the prostate cancer still remain popular, those being prostatectomy, the hormone therapy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and cryotherapy.


For different stages, the cure rates also differ and below you may find some statistics; remember though that the results of these statistics are not accurate but rather relative because the cancer and each type of cancer is unique and that means that the same type of cancer can grow at different rates in different people.


For the localized cancer, or cancer in stage I or II, almost ninety nine men of every one hundred will live for at least five years after the initial diagnose and about sixty five to ninety per cent of them will even reach ten years of living.



For the locally advanced prostate cancer and that means stage III, almost seven to eight men of every ten men will live for at least five years after the initial diagnose and if they follow a treatment such as the androgen deprivation therapy or the radiation therapy.


Usually, almost twenty to thirty out of every one hundred men will be affected by metastatic cancer or cancer of stage IV, so for this stage, one to three men live for at least five years after the initial diagnose, of course, with the help of a proper treatment.


Again I should state the fact that these statistics are relative and for a better understanding of your situation try to seek a doctors counseling advice.