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Muscat Private Hospital will be holding a
Prostate cancer awareness week 1-7th October,
please ring 24583792 / 24583608 for an appointment with Dr
Lala, consultant urologist.
The Prostate
The prostate is a small, squishy gland about
the size of a walnut that sits under the bladder and in
front of the rectum. The urethra, the narrow tube that runs
the length of the penis and that carries both urine and
semen out of the body, runs directly through the prostate.
The rectum, or the lower end of the bowel, sits just behind
the prostate and the bladder.
Sitting just above the prostate are the
seminal vesicles, two little glands that secrete about 60%
of the substances that makes up semen; running alongside and
attached to the sides of the prostate are the nerves that
control erectile function.
Under normal circumstances, the urinary
sphincters, bands of muscle tissue at the base of the
bladder and at the base of the prostate, remain tightly
shut, thereby preventing urine that is stored in the bladder
from leaking out. During urination, the sphincters are
relaxed and the urine flows from the bladder through the
urethra and out of the body.
Prostate Cancer Symptoms
If the cancer is caught at its earliest
stages, most men will not experience any symptoms. Some
men, however, will experience symptoms that might indicate
the presence of prostate cancer, including:
-
A need to
urinate frequently, especially at night;
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Difficulty
starting urination or holding back urine;
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Weak or
interrupted flow of urine;
-
Painful or
burning urination;
-
Difficulty
in having an erection;
-
Painful
ejaculation;
-
Blood in
urine or semen; or
-
Frequent pain or stiffness in the lower
back, hips, or upper thighs.
What is Prostate Cancer?
Prostate cancer occurs when cells within the
prostate grow uncontrollably, creating small tumors. The
term “cancer” refers to a condition in which the regulation
of cell growth is lost and cells grow uncontrollably. Most
cells in the body are constantly dividing, maturing and then
dying in a tightly controlled process. Unlike normal cells,
the growth of cancer cells is no longer well-regulated.
Instead of dying as they should, cancer cells outlive normal
cells and continue to form new, abnormal cells.
Abnormal cell growths are called tumors. The
term “primary tumor” refers to the original tumor; secondary
tumors are caused when the original cancer spreads to other
locations in the body. Prostate cancer typically is
comprised of multiple very small, primary tumors within the
prostate. At this stage, the disease is often curable
(rates of 90% or better) with standard interventions such
as surgery
or radiation
that aim to remove or kill all cancerous cells in the
prostate. Unfortunately, at this stage the cancer produces
few or no symptoms and can be difficult to detect.
How common is Prostate Cancer?
In America, it is affecting 1 in 6 men. In
fact, a man is 35% more likely to be diagnosed with prostate
cancer than a woman is to be diagnosed with breast cancer.
In 2009, more than 192,000 men will
be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and more than 27,000
men will die from the disease. One new case occurs every 2.7
minutes and a man dies from prostate cancer every 19
minutes.
How curable is prostate cancer?
As with all cancers, "cure" rates for
prostate cancer describe the percentage of patients likely
remaining disease-free for a specific time. In general, the
earlier the cancer is caught, the more likely it is for the
patient to remain disease-free.
Because approximately 90% of all prostate
cancers are detected in the local and regional stages, the
cure rate for prostate cancer is very high—nearly 100% of
men diagnosed and treated at this stage will be disease-free
after five years. By contrast, in the 1970s, only 67% of men
diagnosed with local or regional prostate cancer were
disease-free after five years.
Yet being diagnosed with prostate cancer can
be a life-altering experience. It requires making some very
difficult decisions about treatments that
can affect not only the life of the man diagnosed, but also
the lives of his family members in significant ways for many
years to come.
PSA & DRE Screening
The purpose of screening for cancer is to
detect the cancer at its earliest stages, before any
symptoms have developed.
Some men, however, will experience symptoms that
might indicate the presence of prostate cancer. Because
these symptoms can
also indicate the presence of other diseases or disorders
(such as Benign
Prostatic Hyperplasia or
prostatitis), these men will undergo a
more thorough work-up. Typically, men whose prostate cancer
is detected through screening are found to have very
early-stage disease that can be treated most effectively.
Screening for prostate cancer can be
performed quickly and easily in a physician’s office using
two tests: the PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood tests
blood test, and the DRE (Digital Rectal Examination).
Although the DRE
and PSA cannot diagnose prostate cancer,
they can signal the need for a biopsy to examine the
prostate cells and determine whether they are cancerous. In
some men, changes in urinary or sexual function lead to a
full evaluation by the doctor, and, if prostate cancer is
suspected, a biopsy will be performed.
During a biopsy, needles are inserted into
the prostate to take small samples of tissue, often under
the guidance of ultrasound imaging. The biopsy procedure may
cause some discomfort or pain, but the procedure is short,
and can usually be performed without an overnight hospital
stay. |
