Prostate Cancer

Medical Editors: William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR and Dennis Lee, MD

• What is the prostate gland?
• What is prostate cancer?
• Why is prostate cancer important?
• What causes prostate cancer?
• What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?
• What are the screening tests for prostate cancer?
• What are false-positive elevations in the PSA test?
• What refinements have been made in the PSA test?
• How is prostate cancer diagnosed?
• How is the staging of prostate cancer done?
• What are the treatment options for prostate cancer?
• What about surgical treatment for prostate cancer?
• What about radiation therapy for prostate cancer?
• What about hormonal treatment for prostate cancer?
• What is cryotherapy for prostate cancer?
• What is chemotherapy for prostate cancer?
• What about herbal or other alternative medicine treatments for prostate cancer?
• What is watchful waiting?
• Can prostate cancer be prevented?
• What will be the future treatments for prostate cancer?
• Prostate Cancer At A Glance
• Related prostate cancer articles:
  Prostate cancer - on WebMD

Prostate cancer - on eMedicineHealth

• Patient Discussions: Prostate Cancer - Symptoms At Onset Of Disease

Surviving Prostate Cancer One Patient's Story By Angela Generoso Staff Writer, MedicineNet.com Reviewed by William Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR Benjamin Miller* was shocked to learn he had prostate cancer. "I had absolutely no family history of prostate cancer," Miller says. "I was very active, had no symptoms, and had an excellent diet." Miller has since spent a great deal of time over the past five years mentoring men who have been recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, and although he generally avoids suggesting one treatment option over another, he spends even more time answering the questions he says that doctors won't answer. "There are so many details that the doctors don't tell you because they don't want to spook you," Miller says. He believes the biggest piece of advice he can give other men experiencing the same condition he struggled through would be that it never hurts to double-check, stressing the importance of testing and re-testing to ensure complete accuracy. Miller was diagnosed in 2001, and quickly became an extremely well-informed prostate cancer patient. Prostate cancer is a malignant tumor made up of cells from the prostate gland. This tumor grows at an extremely slow pace and usually stays within the prostate gland for years. Miller's battle with prostate cancer began with an annual physical, in which a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test and a Digital Rectal Exam (DRE) were included. His family doctor detected no irregularities by touch during the DRE, and his PSA was fairly normal at a 3.6 level. However, the number had risen over a period of three tests during the last two years, which caught his doctor's attention. *Name has been changed. Read on as Benjamin ponders surgery » Top Searched Prostate Cancer Terms: prevention, BPH, prostate problems, surgery, prostatitis, stages, warning signs, benign prostatic hyperplasia, questions and answers, cause of, prostatectomy

What is the prostate gland?

The prostate gland is an organ that is located at the base or outlet (neck) of the urinary bladder. (See the diagram.) The gland surrounds the first part of the urethra. The urethra is the passage through which urine drains from the bladder to exit from the penis. One function of the prostate gland is to help control urination by pressing directly against the part of the urethra that it surrounds. Another function of the prostate gland is to produce some of the substances that are found in normal semen, such as minerals and sugar. Semen is the fluid that transports the sperm. A man can manage quite well, however, without his prostate gland. (See the section on surgical treatment for prostate cancer.)

In a young man, the normal prostate gland is the size of a walnut. During normal aging, however, the gland usually grows larger. This enlargement with aging is called benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), but this condition is not associated with prostate cancer. Both BPH and prostate cancer, however, can cause similar problems in older men. For example, an enlarged prostate gland can squeeze or impinge on the outlet of the bladder or the urethra, leading to difficulty with urination. The resulting symptoms commonly include slowing of the urinary stream and urinating more frequently, particularly at night.

What is prostate cancer?

Prostate cancer is a malignant (cancerous) tumor (growth) that consists of cells from the prostate gland. The tumor usually grows slowly and remains confined to the gland for many years. During this time, the tumor produces little or no symptoms or outward signs (abnormalities on physical examination). As the cancer advances, however, it can spread beyond the prostate into the surrounding tissues (local spread). Moreover, the cancer also can metastasize (spread even farther) throughout other areas of the body, such as the bones, lungs, and liver. Symptoms and signs, therefore, are more often associated with advanced prostate cancer.

Why is prostate cancer important?

Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy in American men and the second leading cause of deaths from cancer, after lung cancer. Most experts in this field, therefore, recommend that beginning at age 40, all men should undergo yearly screening for prostate cancer.

Prostate Cancer - Symptoms At Onset Of Disease

The MedicineNet physician editors ask:

The symptoms of prostate cancer can vary greatly from patient to patient. What were your symptoms at the onset of your disease?

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