End Stage Prostate Cancer
Published on Apr 12 2010, in the categories: Stages of disease
The end stage of the prostate cancer is when the cancer is metastasized.
Usually after the prostate biopsy procedure it is reveled whether cancerous cells do or do not exist within the prostate gland. In the unfortunate case when cancer is discovered the immediate step would be classifying it according to how far advanced it is. This is called the staging process.
The Gleason scale is used to classify the stages of the cancer: scores from two to four indicate a slow growing tumor, scores from five to six indicate an intermediate aggressiveness of the tumor, while scores from seven to ten indicate the rapid growth of the cancerous tumor; the staging process or the TNM system indicates how spread is the disease, and there are usually four stages: stage I, stage II, stage III and stage IV. There is another staging system known under the name of Whitmore-Jewett staging, very similar to the TNM system, one obvious difference being the replacement of the roman numerals with Latin letters.
In stage IV or stage D the cancer is metastasized and has spread to the bones, lungs, liver and the lymph nodes. According to the Whitmore-Jewett staging system, in stage D the cancer has spread far from the prostate gland and is known as the stage of metastatic cancer. It is divided into substage D0 when the blood tests indicate that the cancer has spread in the body even though the imaging tests and examination show otherwise; in substage D1 the cancer is found in the lymph nodes; in substage D2 the cancer has spread to the other organs surrounding the prostate and to the bones; in substage D3, by following the prescribed treatment, the cancer is similar as in stage D2, without further advancing.
There aren’t any early symptoms to indicate the existence of a tumor or cancerous cells within the prostate organ so the screening tests are highly recommended by doctors, especially for men who have reached the age of forty or more.
If the existence of the tumor is confirmed but it is left untreated then the cancerous cells tend to multiply abnormally and the cancer will eventually spread to the surrounding areas of the prostate as the rectum, bones, lymph nodes in the groin area or the seminal vesicle; this is the stage known as the metastatic cancer, when the cancerous prostate cells are being transported through the bloodstream and the lymphatic system to other internal regions of the body where they grow other tumors.
In this end stage of prostate cancer aggressive symptoms tend to appear: frequent urination or weak urine stream, burning or pain while urinating, blood in urine or semen, painful ejaculation, back pains, stiffness, ache; in the its advanced forms the cancer may cause bone pain, it could also spread fast to the lungs and liver causing coughing and chest pains, yellow skin and pain in the abdomen. If the spinal cord is affected by the prostate cancer it can cause a compression of the spine, resulting in weakness or fecal and urinary incontinence.
Metastatic prostate cancer can be treated but to be honest the results are limited and those treatments can only stop the evolving of the cancer and increase the life expectancies.
Usually after the prostate biopsy procedure it is reveled whether cancerous cells do or do not exist within the prostate gland. In the unfortunate case when cancer is discovered the immediate step would be classifying it according to how far advanced it is. This is called the staging process.
The Gleason scale is used to classify the stages of the cancer: scores from two to four indicate a slow growing tumor, scores from five to six indicate an intermediate aggressiveness of the tumor, while scores from seven to ten indicate the rapid growth of the cancerous tumor; the staging process or the TNM system indicates how spread is the disease, and there are usually four stages: stage I, stage II, stage III and stage IV. There is another staging system known under the name of Whitmore-Jewett staging, very similar to the TNM system, one obvious difference being the replacement of the roman numerals with Latin letters.
In stage IV or stage D the cancer is metastasized and has spread to the bones, lungs, liver and the lymph nodes. According to the Whitmore-Jewett staging system, in stage D the cancer has spread far from the prostate gland and is known as the stage of metastatic cancer. It is divided into substage D0 when the blood tests indicate that the cancer has spread in the body even though the imaging tests and examination show otherwise; in substage D1 the cancer is found in the lymph nodes; in substage D2 the cancer has spread to the other organs surrounding the prostate and to the bones; in substage D3, by following the prescribed treatment, the cancer is similar as in stage D2, without further advancing.
There aren’t any early symptoms to indicate the existence of a tumor or cancerous cells within the prostate organ so the screening tests are highly recommended by doctors, especially for men who have reached the age of forty or more.
If the existence of the tumor is confirmed but it is left untreated then the cancerous cells tend to multiply abnormally and the cancer will eventually spread to the surrounding areas of the prostate as the rectum, bones, lymph nodes in the groin area or the seminal vesicle; this is the stage known as the metastatic cancer, when the cancerous prostate cells are being transported through the bloodstream and the lymphatic system to other internal regions of the body where they grow other tumors.
In this end stage of prostate cancer aggressive symptoms tend to appear: frequent urination or weak urine stream, burning or pain while urinating, blood in urine or semen, painful ejaculation, back pains, stiffness, ache; in the its advanced forms the cancer may cause bone pain, it could also spread fast to the lungs and liver causing coughing and chest pains, yellow skin and pain in the abdomen. If the spinal cord is affected by the prostate cancer it can cause a compression of the spine, resulting in weakness or fecal and urinary incontinence.
Metastatic prostate cancer can be treated but to be honest the results are limited and those treatments can only stop the evolving of the cancer and increase the life expectancies.
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