Late Stages Of Prostate Cancer
Published on Apr 10 2010, in the categories: Stages of disease, Useful Info
The prostate cancer is a disease affecting the prostate gland, and if left untreated it could eventually lead to death.
Since this disease has no early symptoms, a proper diagnose is necessary and the screening tests are recommended to be done on a regular basis by all men who had reached the age of forty or more.
The prostate biopsy is performed only in case the screening tests had shown an abnormal result. If cancer is detected, the staging process will be the next step for a better understanding of the patient’s situation.
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 A, the tumor is not clinically detectable, in stage B the tumor is organ-confined and can be detected after medical examinations, in stage C the tumor began spreading outside the prostate organ and in stage D, the tumor has already infected other organs.
According to the Whitmore-Jewett staging process, the late stages of the prostate cancer are obviously C and D.
In stage C, the tumor is still in the surrounding area of the prostate but chances are that it probably also entered the seminal vesicles. In substage C1 the cancerous cells have spread through the capsule containing the prostate and in substage C2 the cancer already began to block the urine flown from the ureters or the bladder outlet.
In stage D, the cancer has spread far from the prostate gland and is known as the stage of metastatic cancer. In substage D0 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.
In these last stages the patients present the following symptoms: weakness in the legs, fecal an urinary incontinence, bone pain; if the cancer had spread to the lungs and liver it will cause breathing problems, chest and abdomen pains; if the spinal cord is affected it can cause the compression of the spine, metastatic cancer will gravely affect the pelvis, the ribs and the vertebrae.
Advanced prostate cancer has a treatment, even though it is less effective in this stage comparing to the other early ones. This is probably the reason why doctors strongly recommend to take good care of you body after you reached a certain age and always seek for their counseling if strange symptoms do appear.
Since this disease has no early symptoms, a proper diagnose is necessary and the screening tests are recommended to be done on a regular basis by all men who had reached the age of forty or more.
The prostate biopsy is performed only in case the screening tests had shown an abnormal result. If cancer is detected, the staging process will be the next step for a better understanding of the patient’s situation.
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 A, the tumor is not clinically detectable, in stage B the tumor is organ-confined and can be detected after medical examinations, in stage C the tumor began spreading outside the prostate organ and in stage D, the tumor has already infected other organs.
According to the Whitmore-Jewett staging process, the late stages of the prostate cancer are obviously C and D.
In stage C, the tumor is still in the surrounding area of the prostate but chances are that it probably also entered the seminal vesicles. In substage C1 the cancerous cells have spread through the capsule containing the prostate and in substage C2 the cancer already began to block the urine flown from the ureters or the bladder outlet.
In stage D, the cancer has spread far from the prostate gland and is known as the stage of metastatic cancer. In substage D0 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.
In these last stages the patients present the following symptoms: weakness in the legs, fecal an urinary incontinence, bone pain; if the cancer had spread to the lungs and liver it will cause breathing problems, chest and abdomen pains; if the spinal cord is affected it can cause the compression of the spine, metastatic cancer will gravely affect the pelvis, the ribs and the vertebrae.
Advanced prostate cancer has a treatment, even though it is less effective in this stage comparing to the other early ones. This is probably the reason why doctors strongly recommend to take good care of you body after you reached a certain age and always seek for their counseling if strange symptoms do appear.
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