Prostate Cancer Warning Signs

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Prostate cancer is a malignant tumor that develops in the prostate gland. The tumor usually grows slowly and remains confined to your gland for many years, usually without any symptoms. Also, no outward signs are evident during physical examinations of the prostate. However, as the cancer advances, it can spread beyond your prostate into the surrounding tissues and later to other organs. If it spreads throughout other areas of the body, such as the bones, lungs, and liver, it becomes incurable. Symptoms and signs are therefore often associated typically with advanced prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is initially suspected when a PSA blood test shows abnormal results or when a hard lump is felt on the prostate gland during a routine digital rectal examination. A biopsy of your prostate gland is then done and the diagnosis of prostate cancer is made when cancerous prostatic cells are identified in the biopsy tissue.

Prostate Cancer Warning Signs

If the cancer is caught at its earliest stages, most men will not experience any symptoms. At later stages, the following warning signs may be present:

• Frequent urge to urinate, especially at night
• Frequent urination in small amounts
• Incomplete emptying of the bladder
• Dribbling of urine
• Difficulty starting urination
• Reduced force of the urine stream
• Pain during urination
• Pain during sex
• Blood in the urine
• Pain in the lower back, hips, and thighs
• Bone pain in the spine, pelvis, or ribs

Detection and Prevention

If you detect the cancer early, it is easy to treat and can be cured. However, in the advanced stages treatment is difficult, and it is incurable if the disease has spread to organs such as bones and lymph nodes. Therefore, beginning at age 40, all men should possible undergo yearly screening for prostate cancer.

Although your family history and hereditary factors increase your chances of getting prostate cancer, a lot of it depends on your life style habits like smoking, exposure to heavy metals like Cadmium, and eating habits. You need to avoid smoking, minimize or avoid the intake of foods such as red meat and saturated fats, and increase the intake of vegetables, fruits, soybean products, tomato products, and Vitamin E to have a healthy prostate.

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If the cancer is detected early, it is easy to treat and can be cured. However, in the advanced stages treatment is difficult, and it is incurable if the disease spreads to organs such as bones and lymph nodes. There are many treatment options for prostate cancer. Each option needs to be considered carefully, taking into consideration the individual‘s age, overall health and so on.

Treatment Options

The treatment methods that have been traditionally used include Watchful waiting (without any treatment), Surgery (radical prostatectomy), and External beam therapy (EBT). However, there are modern treatment methods developed and used in the last 10-15 years. These newer methods are more effective, and minimize the unpleasant side effects you may face with the traditional therapies.

One of these methods, Radiation Therapy is often used to treat pancreatic cancer, mostly in advanced cases and older patients (to avoid surgery).There are several different forms of radiation therapy, such as external beam, brachytherapy or seed implantation, high dose interstitial radiation, and several forms of combined therapy.

Seed Implantation or Brachytheraphy

In seed implantation or Brachytheraphy, radiation oncologists place (under anesthesia) small radioactive seeds, about the size of a grain of rice, into your prostate. This is done by inserting needles containing the seeds, using ultrasound guidance, through the skin of your perineum (the area between the scrotum and anus). These seeds irradiate and kill the cancer cells, and remain in your prostate for a number of months. Either radioactive Iodine (I -125) or palladium (Pd-103) is used for the radioactive seeds.

Seed implantation is an effective treatment when the cancer is localized to the prostate, requires no surgical incision, and requires a short recovery time. It can be an outpatient procedure and most men go home the same day. Also, you can return to your normal activities a few days after treatment. The biggest advantage is that two to three times as much radiation can given to you compared to external beam therapy, with very less radiation affecting the surrounding tissues. The success rate is often very high because of these reasons.

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Prostate cancer is one of the most common and deadly types of cancers for men in the world today. Like any other type of cancer, prostate cancer is caused when cells start to multiply abnormally and form a mass that is called tumor. A tumor can be benign or malignant, where the malignant ones are always cancerous tumors. Prostate cancer appears in your body when malignant tissues affect the prostate.

Thousands of new cases are diagnosed across the world every year. Prostate cancer, like other prostate problems, commonly occurs in men aged 50 and older. Sometimes men may feel the symptoms themselves or sometimes their doctors detect prostate problems during routine examinations. Urologists, who are experts in diseases of the urinary tract, diagnose and treat prostate related problems.

Typically, prostate cancer does not give off any obvious warning signs. Another confusing aspect is that most of the possible warning signs are very similar to the signs for other prostate health problems that are non-cancerous in nature. Also, prostate cancer warning signs are greatly affected by ageing. As you grow older, the prostate continues to grow bigger until it became troublesome. Normally you face problems during urination as an enlarged prostate prevents the proper flow of urine.

Prostate Cancer Warning Signs

The following are some common prostate cancer warning signs:

• Frequent urge to urinate, especially at night
• Incomplete emptying of the bladder
• Dribbling of urine
• Difficulty starting urination
• Reduced force of the urine stream
• Frequent urination in small amounts
• Pain during urination
• Pain during sex
• Blood in the urine
• Pain in the lower back, hips, and thighs
• Bone pain in the spine, pelvis, or ribs

Treatment and Prevention

If you detect the cancer early, it is easy to treat and can be cured. However, in the advanced stages treatment is difficult, and it is incurable if the disease has spread to organs such as bones and lymph nodes.

Although there is most likely a hereditary factor to your chances of getting prostate cancer, a lot of it depends on your life style-related habits like smoking, exposure to heavy metals like Cadmium, and eating habits. You need to avoid smoking, minimize or avoid the intake of foods such as red meat and saturated fats, and take more of vegetables and fruits to have a healthy prostate.

Technorati Tags: Cancer, Hips, Painlower back, Pelvis, Prevention, Prostate, signs, Thighs, treatment, urinate, urination, urine

The prostate is a small gland located below the bladder, found only in the male reproductive system. Prostate cancer occurs when the cells of the prostate mutate and multiply without control. It is one of the most common cancers found among men and is typically found among older men above the age of 50. Men with a family history of this cancer are also under a great risk, and should get tested regularly.. Increasing the intake of fruits and vegetables and reducing the consumption of red meat and saturated fats can prevent prostate cancer to a great extent.

Symptoms

The most common symptoms of prostate cancer are the following:

• Difficulty and pain while urinating
• Passing urine often, particularly at night
• Blood in the urine
• Pain in the lower back, hips, and thighs
• Bone pain in the spine, pelvis, or ribs
• Problems in sexual intercourse

Advanced Prostate Cancer

If the cancer is detected early, it is easy to treat and can be cured. However, in the advanced stages treatment is difficult, and it is incurable if the disease has spread to organs such as bones and lymph nodes. When the cancer reaches the end stages, the person may suffer weight loss, pain in various parts of the body such as lower back, hips, and thighs. Treatment in the advanced stage aims generally at reducing pain and improving the quality of life.

Treatment Options

A multidisciplinary team of doctors, which includes a urologist, radiotherapy specialist, hormone therapy specialist, chemotherapy specialist, surgeons, and oncologists help you in deciding the course of your treatment. Before deciding on the type of treatment, various factors related to the patient have to be taken into consideration, which include:

• Your Age
• Overall health
• The extent of spread of the cancer
• The symptoms that are visible
• Possible side effects of the treatment

Hormonal therapy is the preferred method of treatment in advanced prostate cancer. Chemotherapy may be used if hormone therapy is not effective in controlling the disease. Surgery to remove the prostate gland is not a viable option in case of advanced cases. However, a trans-urethral resection of the prostate can relieve problems with passing urine in advanced cases. Painkillers may be given in some cases and Radio therapy may be used to relieve bone pain in others.

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The prostate is a small gland located below the urinary bladder, found only in the male reproductive system. This gland grows as a male grows in age. However, if the gland grows too large, it can cause many health problems. Most of these problems are non-cancerous and are found mostly among men who are above the age of 50.

These problems are diagnosed and treated by a trained Urologist. Increasing the intake of fruits and vegetables and reducing the consumption of red meat and saturated fats can prevent prostate problems to a great extent.

Non-Cancerous Prostate Problems

The following are some of the most common non-cancerous prostate problems, their symptoms, and treatment options:

1. Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)

This problem occurs when the prostate gets enlarged. The prostate then blocks the urethra making it difficult to urinate. It causes a person to have a frequent urge to urinate and may cause urine to dribble. You need to see a doctor who will then conduct a rectal examination to diagnose the problem.

If your condition is not causing any problems, the doctor may advise annual checkups only. Treatment will be prescribed only if your situation gets worse later on. There are medications that can cause you prostate to shrink or can relax the muscles near the prostate. However, these medicines can cause side effects such as sexual problems, headaches, dizziness, or fatigue.

Surgery is usually advised only when the medications are not effective. Radio waves, Microwaves, and Lasers are used to treat BPH-related problems.

2. Acute Prostatitis

This condition is caused due to a bacterial infection of the prostate. It causes fever, chills, pain in the lower back, pain between legs, or pain while urinating. A host of medications are available to treat Prostatitis, but hey will be prescribed by your doctor. Do not take over the counter drugs.

3. Chronic Bacterial Prostatitis

This is a chronic condition caused by a bacterial infection. You may need to take antibiotics for a long time for the situation to improve. Even then, this infection may recur again and a recurrence is usually quite difficult to treat.

4. Chronic Abacterial Prostatitis

This condition is also known as Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CPPS). It causes pain in the lower back, at the tip of the penis, or between the legs. You may also have pain during sex or may need to urinate frequently. This situation is also hard to treat and may require more than one form of treatment.

Technorati Tags: Bladder, Gland, Problems, Prostate, Prostatitis, treatment, Urinary, Urologist

The body is made up of different types of cells that in turn are grouped into different tissues and organs. There are more than 200 different types of body cells. Cancer is a disease caused by the changing of these normal cells in an uncontrolled way, thus forming a lump, which, if not treated medically, will spread into adjacent normal cells or apply pressure on other body structures.  Cancer research is all about identifying what causes cancer and working out ways and means for the diagnosis, treatment, cure and prevention of this deadly disease.

In the world today, there are many NGO’s and government sponsored institutions engaged in comprehensive cancer research work.  Billions of dollars are spent annually on such work by these institutions.  Normally such research work is spread from epidemiology, molecular bioscience to the carrying out of clinical trials of different treatment applications so as to evaluate and compare the efficacy of such applications.  However, since 1990’s, the focus of these research has been centered on immunotherapy and gene therapy.

Some non-governmental organizations such as American Institute for Cancer Research (AIR) and Cancer Research UK have been funding thousands of scientists, doctors, and other research students in cancer research.  Their research work covers almost all aspects of cancer-related subjects through extensive programmes of world-class research in hospitals, universities and other institutes all over the world.

More and more promising researchers, students, and scientists are joining in cancer research work in order to fight this deadly disease that afflicts millions of patients globally. The aspiring students of cancer research may well remember that they could find very insightful and educative research articles and source material from the World Wide Web.  At the same time, if they are looking for some research grant or fellowship to carry out cancer research work to save the lives of millions of cancer patients in the world, they have a ready reference guide in the Internet where a simple search will give them a plethora of websites of such organizations that are all too ready to grant such assistance.

Everybody concerned about cancer, be it patients or academics, are keen on finding the latest news on the types of new therapy and information on treatments.  Internet has all these.  However, it is always useful to corroborate this evidence of the latest from many sources before accepting a single research paper.  Mind you, cancer research is an ongoing process.

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Prostate cancer: the facts

If prostate cancer is detected in time, then it might be prevented. It is therefore advised that you get to know the facts and fictions about its signs and how to seek treatment.

Myth 1: I don’t have any signs of prostate cancer, so I can’t possibly be having the disease.

Truth: When in its initial stage prostate cancer mostly does not show any signs. However as the disease increases you start to have urinary problems or painful hips or pelvis. Much as these are also prostate cancer symptoms do not be alarmed as these signs can also be brought about by non-cancerous prostate complications. However if you have any of the above mentioned symptoms please do not hesitate to contact your doctor. You can also visit the Prostate Cancer Charity web page for more beneficial tips.

Myth 2: If my doctor or GP recommends that I undergo a Prostate Specific Antigen test or PSA that is proof that I have prostate cancer.

Truth: PSA testing can help detect complications in the prostate gland; however PSA is not mainly connected to prostate cancer. The PSA is present in all men?s blood and so its level can be influenced by a number of things, for example age, infection and a number of medicines. There are also some complications not unrelated to prostate cancers that may influence it thus making its levels high. However is your PSA test results are low, is not an assurance that you are prostate cancer free. This is mainly because cancer in its initial stages does not change the PSA level.

Myth 3: If I have prostate cancer,  can I infect my spouse?

Truth: Prostate cancer cannot be passed on from one person to another be it different sex or same sex. It is also important to note that since women don’t have prostate glands, then there is no way they can get prostate cancer.

Facts:

1. Prostate cancer is the leading form of cancer in the UK. Out of 35,000 men who are detected to be suffering from prostate cancer, 10,000 of them die from it annually.
2. There is a chance of survival if prostate cancer is detected early since it can be controlled.
3. There are two kinds of prostate cancers: the ‘pussycats’ and the ‘tigers’. Pussycats are minor, sluggish in growth, and not likely to affect you. This kind of cancer might not require instant handling. The ‘tigers’ are destructive and reach past the prostate glands. Scientists are attempting to differentiate between the two cancers during tests so that men can be accorded the appropriate remedies.

Prostate Specific Antigen test

The PSA ascertains if the levels of prostate specific antigen available in the blood is normal. If it is high, it means that there is a chance that it could be prostate cancer.

The benefits of PSA test:

• It could save your life by showing traces of prostate cancer even It may indicate prostate cancer ahead of any signs.
• By detecting cancer, it may save your life when you seek treatment before it becomes malignant.

Drawbacks of the PSA test:

• It might not detect cancers at its initial stages.
• In the event that your PSA level is high, you shall require detailed analysis that might have a threat to you live and also after effects. It is known that about two thirds of men who have high levels of PSA don’t suffer from prostate cancer.
• It cannot differentiate between the two forms of prostate cancer, the tiger and pussycat. That means that it can detect a ‘pussycat’ form of prostate cancer that would have otherwise not have brought you any complications or even death.

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