The prostate cancer is divided into many types and they are all related to the stages and evolution of the tumor or the cancerous cells in the gland.

The right type of prostate cancer can be diagnosed only with the help of the screening tests, the prostate biopsy and eventually using the Gleason scale. If a tumor is discovered but left untreated, the cancerous cells will continue their abnormal multiplication until they’ll reach the surrounding areas of the gland, traveling through the bloodstream or the lymph vessels, spreading to the bones, the seminal vesicle, the rectum, the liver or even the lungs in its most advanced stage, when the cancer is metastasized.

The prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia or PIN, described as the abnormal growth of the cells, is not cancerous but it is considered to be the precursor of the prostate cancer because there is always a high risk of developing this disease if it is not monitored regularly. There are other certain diseases affecting the prostate like prostatitis or the benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH, but are not related to cancer. The tumor can be malignant or benign, like in the case of the BPH. To make things clear, the benign tumors can be removed and they are not cancer but there is always the small possibility of tumor recurrence. On the other hand, the malignant tumor means cancer. The cancerous cells will divide and spread rapidly, so the original or the primary tumor will form secondary tumors in the invaded organs. This stage is known as the metastatic cancer. The prostate cancers are classified as neuro-endocrine cancer or small cell anaplastic cancer, which doesn’t produce the prostate specific antigen but it spreads earlier, and adenocarcinomas, developing in the glandular tissue.

Many of the prostate cancers are adenocarcinomans or malignant cancers, developing first in the cells lining the tubes and the ducts of the glandular organ. The term adenocarcinoma can be split into adeno, defined as ‘pertaining to a gland’, and carcinoma, associated with the cancer found in the epithelial cells. It is the most common form of prostate cancer, affecting a great number of men over sixty five, and it can only be compared to melanoma if we talk about the recurrence possibility. The small cell carcinoma is a type of cancer made up of round cells, small in size, and it usually appears at the nerve cells. This cancer doesn’t increase the level of the prostate specific antigens, but it is aggressive and hard to detect if the cancer is in its advanced form. The squamous cell carcinoma is a non glandular cancer similar to the small cell carcinoma. Other rare types of cancer are the transitional cell carcinoma, it can develop in the prostate gland but the primary tumors are found in the urethra or the bladder, and the sarcomas. As I’ve stated before the recommended screening tests and the prostate biopsy will determine exactly what type of cancer is affecting your body structures. It is necessary to make a correct diagnose because the treatment will be prescribed according to what are the results of the tests. The staging process will probably be the next step; doctors need to know how far spread is the cancer: local confined, locally advanced or metastatic, and determine exactly what are the risk factors that could irreversible affect your health.