Prostate cancer

Alternative Names

Prostate cancer

What is Prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is a type of malignant (cancerous) growth in the prostate - one of the male sex glands located just below the bladder in front of the rectum. Some types of prostate cancer grow slowly, do no serious harm and may need minimal or no treatment, other types are aggressive and can spread quickly.

Signs and symptoms

No symptoms of prostate cancer appear until the cancer has grown large enough to press on the urethra. This normally causes problems with urination.

Symptoms can be:

• Needing to urinate more frequently especially during the night
• Needing to rush to the toilet
• Difficulty in starting to urinate or pee (hesitancy)
• Straining or taking a long time while urinating
• Weak flow
• Feeling that your bladder has not emptied fully

Symptoms of cancer may include bone and back pain, a loss of appetite, pain in the testicles and unexplained weight loss.

These symptoms do not always mean you definitely have prostate cancer. Anyway do not ignore them.

Possible complications

Prostate cancer can spread to nearby organs or travel through your bloodstream or lymphatic system to your bones or other organs. It can be treated more complicated.

Prostate cancer can cause urinary incontinence.

Erectile dysfunction can be a result of prostate cancer.

What causes

The most common causes include:

• Being over 55 years of age
• A family history of prostate cancer
• Being African-American
• Having an enlarged prostate (called benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH)
• Being exposed to sexually transmitted viral agents
• Eeating a high saturated fat diet
• Exposure to heavy metal and chemicals
• A sedentary lifestyle
• Insufficient amounts of vitamin D in the diet

Prevention

To reduce the risk of prostate cancer you should:

• Choose a healthy diet full of fruits and vegetables
• Avoid high-fat foods
• Choose healthy foods are rich in vitamins and minerals
• Do exercise most days of the week that improve your overall health, help you maintain your weight and improve your mood.
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Take some medications other treatments if you have a high risk of prostate cancer onset

Treatment

Your prostate cancer treatment depends on the stage of its development. There are three methods of treatment - watchful waiting, local and systemic therapy. During this "watchful waiting" no treatment is required but this tumour will be closely monitored.

Local treatments are used to remove, destroy or control the cancer cells in a specific area. Surgery and radiation therapies are local treatments.

Systemic treatments are used to destroy or control cancer cells all over the body. Hormone therapy is a systemic treatment.