Prostate Cancer: Understanding the Facts

Prostate cancer is a disease in which cancer developes in the prostate gland. This is part of the male reproductive system and symptoms include severe pain, difficulty in urinating and erectile dysfunction. Prostate cancer develops mainly in males over the age of 50 and is the most common type of cancer in US males. Sometimes, many males who have prostate cancer never experience any of the symptoms, never undergo any form of therapy and eventually die of another cause completely.

Prostate cancer has been linked to lifestyle, genetics and diet and is usually detected during a medical examination, often by a bloodtest such as (PSA). Men who have the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test for prostate cancer may require further investigation if the test indicates a problem. This test has proven to be a large advance in the fight against prostate cancer and it involves simply taking a blood sample from the patients finger.

Prostate cancer may effect your sexual functioning, erectile dysfunction as well as involving pain whilst urinating. If it turns out that your results come back positive further investigation may include a biopsy and if this comes back positive, then the anxiety related to any person who has cancer is harsh.

Prostate cancer can be treated by surgery, hormone therapy, radiation therapy and occasionally chemotherapy. The important factor in selecting the correct type of treatment includes the age of the male, overall health of the male, how far the cancer has spread and the response of the cancer to the inital treatment.
The prognosis is higher rates of prostate cancer with lower survival levels in the western world with this form of cancer being the ninth most common cancer in the world. In 2005, a survey showed that prostate cancer effected 18% of American men and caused death in 3%. In general the higher, the higher the grade and stage of prostate cancer, the poorer the prognosis.