What is Prostate Cancer?

Just like many other cancers, prostate cancer occurs when cells grow too much and begin to invade tissues nearby. These tissues make up tumors, which can either be benign or malignant. Prostate cancer can become a serious health issue if it spreads to the lymph nodes, which increases the chances it will spread throughout the body.

Signs of Prostate Cancer

Early prostate cancer does not usually show symptoms, but more advanced cancer may cause the following symptoms:

-Frequent urinating, especially at night, or hesitant urination

-Feeling like you can’t release all urine

-Pain or burning during urination or ejaculation

-Impotence

-Blood in urine or semen

-Pain or stiffness in the upper thighs, lower back or hips

Testing for Prostate Cancer

To perform a rectal self-exam, insert a finger into the rectum and check the prostate area, underneath the bladder, for any irregularities in shape, texture or size. This is the same process used for a Digital Rectal Exam by physicians. This test is more useful when paired with a prostate-specific antigen test (PSA)–a blood test that detects a protein made by the prostate. If your PSA is elevated, prostate cancer may be present. To perform a PSA test, blood from the arm is drawn to measure to PSA level. Since other conditions can also elevate the PSA level, it is recommended to also use a Digital Rectal Exam to detect prostate cancer.

Cancer Staging

Doctors use staging to place patients in a specific prognostic category, which helps the doctors plan treatment for each patient. To determine which of five possible stages a patient’s cancer is in, doctors look at tumor size and location, the number of tumors and if the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes or anywhere else throughout the body.

Prostate Cancer Treatment

The treatment depends on what cancer stage you are in. If you’ve been diagnosed, work with your general physician to find specialists who can fit your needs. Consult a urologist along with both radiation and medical oncologists to determine a treatment. Because prostate cancer is at times not threatening, active surveillance is a common method of treatment. This doesn’t involve an actual treatment but requires regular prostate cancer screening tests. Another option for men in an early stage is a prostatectomy, or removal of the prostate, which is effective if the cancer is localized in the prostate. Other common treatments include radiation, chemotherapy or hormone therapy.

Information courtesy of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania and the National Cancer Institute.

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