Prostate Cancer Questions And Answers

Published on Jun 11 2010, in the categories: prostate cancer

According to its official medical definition, the cancer is an abnormal disease or medical condition with various causes that allow its development, especially when the normal biological functions of the body such as the apoptosis or the death of the cells and the mitosis or the division of the cells are interrupted by the apparition of cancer cells which tend to outlive the normal ones. If you have any questions about the prostate cancer and desperately seeking for some answers try reading the information below.

Normal factors such as the aging process, the genetic inheritance, race, the living and working environment of every person, the alimentation poor in nutritional foods and the excessive alcohol drinking and smoking can also be considered as the main causes of cancer, although still many things remains unknown about this terrible disease.

prostate-cancer-questions-and-answers

There are many types of cancer but among them, the prostate cancer is the second most deadly one because every year, all around the world, one in six men gets to be diagnosed with a prostate cancer while the chances of survival five years after the initial diagnose are of about ninety eight percent. Still, in America only the lung cancer causes more deaths than the prostate one, closely followed by skin cancer and if you wanted an answer to the question about the progression of the prostate cancer know that if it is detected in early stages it can be cured.

The prostate is easily affected by any hormonal problem, especially after the “male menopause” stage, so diseases such as cancer or prostatitis or the benign prostatic hyperplasia (enlargement of the prostate) are unfortunately rather common and after the age of forty, prevention and maintaining a health life should be considered very important. These prostate disorders can gravely affect the general health and the daily activities of a patient, not to mention the urinary and sexual activities.

The early signs of a prostate cancer are not noticeable so basically only with the help of the medical tests you can find out exactly what disease is affecting you and the questions about the prostate cancer can easily be answered.

The screenings are recommended to be done at regular periods of time and if the results indicate any abnormality, with the prostate biopsy you will receive a confirmation whether you have cancer or not.

The tumors are benign but also malignant and only in the latter case the cancer will develop; the tumor is primarily confined into the infected organ and without any treatment to stop its progression, it will soon become locally advanced, spreading to the areas near the prostate and finally metastatic, affecting the far distanced regions and tissues or the vital organs such as the lungs or brain.

The spreading process can be a slow one or a fast one, usually the tumor doubling its size once every four year; the biological characteristics of a patient’s organism may influence that spreading and because each type of cancer is unique the prognosis for its outcome is very difficult. In simpler words, the cancer will evolve differently in different patients in different periods of time, in different stages with different consequences or effects on the general health of that particular person.

The screening tests include the unpleasant digital rectal examination performed by inserting a gloved finger into the rectum to palpate the prostate gland and determine if a lump or hardness had appeared on its surface; the prostate specific antigen blood tests indicate the levels of the prostate specific antigen which should be low in normal conditions. The results have to be interpreted by the medical specialists and they will also decide if a medical investigation is further needed or not.

prostate-cancer-questions-and-answers-2

The prostate biopsy is done with the guidance of the ultrasound images by extracting different prostate gland tissue samples and analyzing them to determine whether cancer cells exist or not. This method of detection is now complement with new ones such as the prostate mapping, the radionuclide bone scans, the CAT scans or coaxial tomography, the nomograms or the magnetic resonance imaging or MRIs.

The staging and grading of a prostate cancer is done with the TNM (tumor, nodes and metastatic) system or its alternative, the Whitmore-Jewett staging system and the popular Gleason scale.

The popular treatment therapies are the prostatectomy for an organ confined cancer, or radiotherapy, hormone therapy or chemotherapy for the advanced or late stage cancers.
If you liked this post, subscribe to our blog by filling your e-mail address below:
Delivered by FeedBurner

Want to add something? Post your comments