Common Prostate Cancer Questions And Answers
Being well informed with regard to any disease can prove to be immensely beneficial in terms of prevention, detection and treatment. The same holds true for prostrate cancer, which is a condition of malignancy of the prostrate gland. Let us inspect some fundamental facts of this disease that can assist in answering various queries related to the same. |
The prostrate gland, located between the rectum and the bladder, is part of the male reproductive system dealing with the production of seminal fluid. Removal of the organ does affect the fertility but creates no influence on one’s survival.
Although the precise causes of the disease are not known, the risk factors include mutations to DNA, age, family history, race, hormones, ethnicity, diet and environment. The disease does not produce any significant symptoms in the initial stages. However, as the malignancy expands, symptoms are evident in the form of increase in the frequency of urination, slow flow of urine, painful irritation, blood in the urine and semen, difficulty in erection, and pain in the back, hips and ribs.
The diagnosis of prostrate cancer includes certain vital tests such as the prostrate specific antigen or PSA test, the levels of which are fairly low in a healthy condition; a prostrate examination that enables physical evaluation of the organ; and finally the transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy that is the ultimate evaluation of the malignancy. The extent of the growth and advancement of the malignancy are diagnosed via the Gleason score and TNM staging system respectively. Malignant cells originating from the prostrate gland could gradually invade the other organs of the body as well. This form of cancer is referred to as metastatic cancer.
Treatment based on the Gleason score comes in the form of radical retropubic prostatectomy, radical perineal prostatectomy, laparoscopic radical prostatectomy and robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. While the first two techniques involve actual surgery with the variation of access to the lymph nodes; the latter two procedures involve no incisions at all.
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