Many men with early-stage prostate cancer can be cured. They get regular screenings and PSA tests. This is called active surveillance. They also have the option to start treatment if their cancer grows or they develop symptoms.
Some people with prostate cancer have genetic mutations that make the tumor grow faster. These patients may benefit from PARP inhibitors, which are drugs that block the enzymes cancer cells need to grow.
Men with prostate cancer have a number of different risk factors. Some of these are things that can be changed, such as smoking or diet. Others, like age or family history, cannot be changed. Having a risk factor does not mean that you will get the disease, and many people who get cancer have no known risk factors. But it does help explain why some people get the disease and others do not.
The most important risk factor for prostate cancer is being over age 50. This is because most cases of prostate cancer develop in men who are 50 or older. The risk of getting the disease rises sharply after age 55 and peaks at around 65, then declines slightly.
Another risk factor for prostate cancer is having a family history of the disease. Having a father or brother with the disease more than doubles a man’s risk of getting it himself. This is especially true if the affected relatives were young when they got the disease.
Researchers are still learning more about what increases a person’s chance of getting prostate cancer. They are looking at diet, anthropometric factors (body size and composition), and hormone levels. In addition, they are studying how genes may affect a person’s chances of getting the disease.
Some studies have found that eating a diet high in fat can increase a man’s risk of getting the disease. Other studies have found that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk. These foods are rich in carotenoids, especially lycopenes, which have been shown to decrease the growth of prostate cancer cells in the laboratory.
Other risk factors for prostate cancer include being African-American, having a vasectomy, and living far north of 40 degrees latitude. This last factor is thought to be due to a reduced amount of sunlight, and therefore vitamin D, that people in northern climates receive. Studies are also underway to learn more about the relationship between a man’s race or ethnicity and his risk of getting prostate cancer. Ethnic groups with higher rates of the disease include African-American, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native men.
Prostate cancer starts in the prostate, a walnut-sized gland in the male reproductive system that helps produce semen and nourishes sperm. The prostate is located just below the bladder and in front of the rectum. The cancer is more likely to develop in the outer part of the prostate, where it can grow quickly and cause symptoms. Most people with prostate cancer do not have any symptoms until the tumor gets large enough to press on a nerve in the area or interfere with urine flow.
Symptoms may include difficulty or pain when you urinate (urinary incontinence), blood in the urine and back pain. Other symptoms can happen if the cancer spreads to other parts of the body.
These symptoms can be caused by other health problems, so it’s important to see your doctor if you have them. The doctor will also want to do other tests to find out if you have prostate cancer. The test most often used to check for prostate cancer is a PSA test. The PSA is a protein that your body makes when cells in the prostate become abnormal and start to grow. The higher the PSA level, the more likely it is that you have prostate cancer.
For most men, cancer in the prostate does not cause any symptoms. If you have symptoms, they may be related to an enlarged prostate or a noncancerous condition called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). BPH can also cause problems with urinating. These symptoms can get worse with age.
Most men with prostate cancer do not die of the disease, and many people with early-stage prostate cancer do not need treatment. If you have low levels of PSA and your doctor doesn’t think the cancer is growing, you might choose not to have treatment right away. This is called watchful waiting. Your doctor will check you for signs of the cancer regularly and start treatment if the cancer grows.
You can help reduce your risk of prostate cancer by eating a healthy diet and getting regular exercise. Cut down on red meat and increase your intake of fruits and vegetables. You can also take a supplement that contains lycopenes, which is thought to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.
The prostate gland is about the size of a walnut and surrounds part of the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder). If cancer starts in the prostate, it can cause symptoms such as weak or interrupted flow of urine. If not treated, the cancer can spread to other parts of the body. Prostate cancer is most common in men over age 50. It rarely occurs before that age. People who advocate screening for prostate cancer believe that early detection can help doctors find cancers that are small and have not spread to other areas of the body, which are easier to treat. People who do not advocate screening argue that the risks of testing outweigh the benefits.
The most common way to diagnose prostate cancer is to have a biopsy of the prostate. This is done by inserting a needle into the rectum and then collecting tissue samples. The tissue is then sent to a laboratory to be examined under a microscope. A pathologist will use a system called Gleason grading to assign a number to the cells in the biopsy sample. A lower score means the cells look more normal and are less likely to grow into cancer. A higher score means the cells are more likely to grow into cancer and should be treated.
A blood test can also be used to check for prostate cancer. It measures PSA, a protein produced by the prostate. A high PSA level is sometimes a sign of prostate cancer, but it can also be caused by other conditions, such as an enlarged prostate or inflammation. A doctor may also order a digital rectal exam (DRE) to examine the prostate for signs of cancer. This is usually done in a hospital or clinic and is painless.
A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan may be done to find out if the cancer has spread outside the prostate into nearby tissue. During this procedure, you lie on a table while the machine, which has a large magnet and radio waves, makes pictures of the area. A special dye is injected into your vein to make the picture clearer.
Getting regular prostate screenings and being aware of the early signs of prostate cancer can help you and your doctor catch it before it becomes serious. If you do get a diagnosis, your treatment options may depend on how far the cancer has grown into nearby tissue, which is called its stage. Doctors use a system called the Tumor, Nodes and Metastasis (TNM) score to describe the stage of a tumor.
If the cancer is only in your prostate gland and hasn’t spread, doctors may recommend watchful waiting. This is often an option for older men or those who have other health problems that make surgery or radiation dangerous. During this time, your doctor will monitor your condition with PSA tests and other blood tests. A biopsy helps doctors know whether your cancer is aggressive. The biopsy results are then used to create a Gleason score, which tells the doctor how likely it is that the cancer will grow quickly and affect other tissues.
A doctor may remove the entire prostate gland and some surrounding tissue. This is a common procedure and can have side effects, including urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. Doctors try to minimize these side effects by protecting nerves around the prostate during surgery. They also use medications to control your bladder and bowel function after surgery.
Your doctor may treat the prostate cancer by blocking the body’s ability to make androgens, which are hormones that promote prostate growth. Hormonal therapy can reduce your symptoms and prolong survival, but it can also cause side effects like low sperm counts and impotence. If you want to have children in the future, talk to your doctor about ways to preserve fertility before treatment begins, such as banking sperm before surgery or using a technique that uses an artificial insemination.
Another type of treatment is targeted therapy, which targets abnormalities in your cancer cells to stop them from growing and spreading. These treatments may be recommended for advanced cancer or if your hormone therapy doesn’t work. They can be given orally or intravenously.
Many people who have prostate cancer do not have any symptoms. This is because the cancer often does not grow fast enough to cause symptoms.
The prostate is a gland in men that helps make semen. It grows enlarged with age. The enlarged prostate can block the tube that carries urine from the bladder.
Frequent urination can be a prostate cancer symptom but it’s not always. It can also be a sign of other pelvic health problems, like an infection or other conditions that affect the bladder or prostate gland. For this reason, it’s important to talk to a healthcare provider about any changes or new symptoms you may be having.
Frequency of urination varies from person to person and can be affected by how much water is consumed, how often the person wakes up or what medications are being taken. People who urinate four to eight times a day or more, particularly those who are men, might experience a strong urge to urinate and have to pee frequently, especially at night. Frequent urination can be accompanied by pain or burning when the person is urinating, which is called dysuria. This is more common in women than in men, and it may be felt at the spot where urine leaves the body (urethra) or in the prostate or bladder area.
Most prostate cancers start in the outer part of the prostate gland, and most don’t cause any symptoms in the early stages. But some cancers can grow bigger and eventually press on the tube that carries urine out of the bladder (the urethra). This is why it’s important to see a healthcare provider if you have frequent or urgent needs to pee.
If you and your healthcare provider determine that frequent urination is a prostate cancer symptom, there are many treatment options available. These include fluid modifications (drinking less fluid, avoiding drinks with caffeine) and medications to treat infections or other health issues that may be contributing to the condition. In some cases, a healthcare provider will recommend surgery to remove the prostate and surrounding tissue. Other treatments for prostate cancer can include radiation therapy, cryotherapy or photodynamic therapy.
Some cancerous tumors can also spread to other parts of the body, including the bones, lymph nodes, lungs and liver. Tumors that have spread are usually diagnosed as metastatic cancer, and the symptoms and signs depend on where the tumors have gone.
Men with prostate cancer often do not experience any urinary symptoms, especially in the early stages of the disease. Symptoms tend to develop as the cancer grows and presses against the bladder or ureters, which cause the pain.
Pain or burning when you urinate or have an erection can be caused by many things, including a common condition called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which causes the prostate gland to enlarge. BPH does not increase a man’s risk for cancer, but it is still important to see your doctor if you have these symptoms.
Other symptoms of prostate cancer include loss of bladder control, blood in the urine or semen and pain in the back, hips or pelvic area. Cancer can also spread to other parts of the body, where it is called metastasis. If this happens, it may cause back pain and bone pain in the hips and pelvis. The type of pain may feel like achy or burning, or it might be sharp or painful and cause a shooting feeling in the back.
Prostate cancer is a serious disease, but most men who get it live for a long time and do not die from the condition. For this reason, screening for the disease is important. Those who are most at risk for the disease are men who are over 50, who have a family history of prostate cancer or of other types of cancer and who have one or more risk factors.
Some of the most common risk factors for prostate cancer are being black, being an African American or having a father or brother who has had prostate cancer. Having a family history of prostate cancer can double a man’s risk for the condition.
Some research suggests that the way doctors talk about prostate cancer in the media and in public health campaigns may contribute to over-investigation and treatment for men with early-stage disease, and can discourage men from seeking medical attention. There is also evidence that focusing on urinary symptoms as signs of prostate cancer may lead to over-investigation and false positives for testing.
Erectile Dysfunction (ED) is the inability to get or keep an erection. It is a common side effect of prostate cancer and some prostate cancer treatments. ED occurs when there is not enough blood flow to the penis, or when nerves to the penis are harmed. It can lead to problems with sex and sexual performance. It can also cause emotional stress.
Men who experience erectile dysfunction or other genital symptoms should talk to their doctor. The doctor will need to know how long the problem has been going on, and if it started before or after prostate cancer treatment began. The doctor will also need to know if there was any other health issue that could be causing the erectile problem.
The prostate gland is a small organ in the male reproductive system that produces fluid that enriches semen. The prostate is located in the pelvic region, underneath the bladder. The prostate, along with the bladder and urethra, play a role in sexual function and reproduction.
Prostate Cancer can also affect fertility, and can interfere with sex in many ways. For example, it can increase the frequency and strength of urination. It can also cause pain or a feeling of pressure in the urinary tract and the bladder. It can also cause back pain, or a feeling that the spine is being pushed on.
If prostate cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it may cause pain in the bones in the lower back and genital area. This type of pain is called neuropathic pain, and it usually feels like a burning or throbbing sensation. The pain may also be felt as a shooting or burning sensation, or it might feel numb. This type of pain is more likely to occur if the cancer has spread beyond the prostate.
Some prostate cancer treatments, including hormone therapy and surgery, can lead to a loss of libido or erectile function in men. Hormone therapy can decrease your body’s ability to create testosterone, which is needed to have an erection. Surgery, especially if it involves removal of the entire prostate, can cause damage to the blood vessels and nerves that are involved in creating an erection. Radiation therapy can also harm erectile tissue.
A prostate cancer symptom that is less common but can occur is loss of bladder control. This symptom can range from occasional leakage to complete loss of bladder control. This can be caused by surgery or radiation treatment, but often is the result of damage to the nerves and muscles that control bladder function. It may be a sign of advanced disease and can be a very disturbing symptom for many men.
This is most often the result of the cancer spreading to the urethra, which empties the bladder. Since the prostate is close to the urethra and surrounds it, when a cancer grows, the prostate can grow larger and push on the urethra or cause the urethra to narrow. This is what causes urination problems such as the inability to start or maintain a stream of urine (hesitancy).
If this is your first time experiencing these symptoms, you should talk to your doctor right away. He will check your prostate and may order blood or PSA tests to help diagnose the problem.
A hesitancy to urinate can be normal as you age, but it’s important to tell your doctor about any change in your urinary habits. It’s also worth mentioning any recurring urinary symptoms you experience.
It’s also important to let your doctor know about any pain or discomfort in your lower back, pelvis, hips, or thighs. This may indicate that the cancer has spread to the bones, which is called metastatic prostate cancer.
If the cancer is small and has not spread beyond the prostate gland, it is often possible to manage the tumor with active surveillance. During this treatment, you will have regular PSA tests and a biopsy to see how the cancer is growing. If the cancer does start to grow or if you develop new symptoms, your doctor will consider treatments such as surgery, radiation therapy or hormone therapy.
Prostate cancer treatment usually includes hormone therapy and radiation. Hormone therapy reduces your testosterone level, which helps keep the cancer from growing.
Your doctor uses imaging tests to find your prostate tumor and a biopsy to test its cells for cancer. The sample is given a Gleason score by a pathologist.
Radiation therapy uses directed X-rays or subatomic particles to destroy cancer cells. It is often used in combination with surgery and can help alleviate symptoms. The most common type of radiation is external beam, or teletherapy, which delivers high-energy beams from outside your body to the cancer site. With newer technology like intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), doctors can shape and focus the radiation more precisely to avoid healthy tissue.
Your doctor will use a series of tests to make sure that the cancer hasn’t spread to other parts of the body. These tests may include blood work, a rectal exam and transrectal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An MRI is a procedure that uses a large magnet, radio waves and a computer to take detailed pictures of areas inside the body.
For most people, prostate cancer that hasn’t spread to other parts of their bodies is curable with surgery and radiation therapy. Hormone therapy can also treat some cases of localized prostate cancer. But hormone therapy can cause side effects, such as hot flashes, sweating, weight gain and reduced sexual desire. If the tumor becomes resistant to hormone therapy, it may be treated with chemotherapy.
The most common surgery for prostate cancer is a radical prostatectomy. During this operation, your surgeon makes a few small incisions to remove your entire prostate and some of the surrounding tissue. For some patients, this may be done using robotic techniques.
After surgery, your PSA levels should drop to near zero. But they will likely rise again over time, and your doctor will check for any recurrences with a variety of scans, including CT and bone scans. A recurrence is most likely when your PSA level increases two points or more from its lowest value, called the nadir.
You may also benefit from other forms of treatment, such as focal therapy or immunotherapy. Immunotherapy strengthens your immune system so it can better recognize and fight cancer cells. Focal therapy targets and destroys prostate cancer cells that have a particular genetic mutation, such as those found in BRCA-positive men.
Cancer is an abnormal growth that takes over normal cells to make them grow faster and form a lump (tumor). Sometimes these cells break away from the prostate and spread to other parts of the body. Most people diagnosed with prostate cancer have early stage disease and their tumors are slow growing.
Your doctor may recommend monitoring your condition instead of treatment if the cancer grows very slowly or doesn’t spread. This is called active surveillance. It involves regular blood tests, digital rectal exams and prostate biopsies. You will also get imaging tests like an MRI or a transrectal ultrasound to watch the cancer.
If you decide to get treatment, your medical oncologist will give you chemotherapy drugs to kill the cancer cells. The anti-cancer drugs are either injected or given by mouth in a liquid or pill. Chemotherapy is most often given along with hormone therapy, not as a standalone treatment.
The type of chemotherapy you receive depends on how your cancer grows, your age and other factors. Your doctor will discuss these options with you.
Some of the most common types of chemotherapy used to treat prostate cancer are doxorubicin, bleomycin and vinblastine. These drugs can kill the cancer cells and prevent them from spreading. They may also be used in combination with other treatments, such as radiation therapy.
Radiation therapies can be delivered in different ways, such as external beam radiation or brachytherapy. With brachytherapy, doctors place radioactive pellets in your prostate. You may also undergo a more targeted radiation treatment called stereotactic body radiotherapy. This type of radiation targets a specific area of the prostate with high-dose radiation over several weeks.
Your healthcare team will also monitor your symptoms and other health conditions, such as heart problems and erectile dysfunction, to help you manage them. They will also help you stay healthy and maintain a good quality of life during and after your treatment.
The best way to avoid prostate cancer is to get regular screenings based on your risk factors and talk with your healthcare provider about your concerns. You should also keep a healthy weight, exercise regularly and follow a balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables.
Cryotherapy is a common treatment for cancer that uses extreme cold to destroy cancer cells. The cold temperature causes the cancer cells to die, which can help prevent the spread of the disease and reduce side effects from chemotherapy. The technique is known as cryoablation, and it involves inserting an instrument called a cryoprobe through a small cut in the skin. The cryoprobe contains liquid nitrogen, which freezes and kills the cancer cells. The procedure is less invasive than surgery or radiation, and it can be used in addition to other types of prostate cancer treatments.
The goal of chemotherapy is to destroy any cancerous cells in the body that may be causing the patient discomfort or harm. Chemotherapy can be administered in pill form or through an injection, depending on the type of medication being used. A doctor will determine the best course of action for each patient. Common side effects of chemotherapy include fatigue, lowered red and white blood cell counts, a higher chance of infection and hair loss. In some cases, chemotherapy drugs can cause a rare but serious side effect known as leukemia.
Once a patient is diagnosed with prostate cancer, the doctor will determine how aggressive the tumor is by using a Gleason score. A Gleason score combines two numbers and can range from 2 (nonaggressive) to 10 (aggressive). The lower the number, the more likely a person is to live longer after undergoing treatment.
Hormone therapy may be an option for men with localized prostate cancer that hasn’t spread beyond the prostate. This therapy stops the production of testosterone, a hormone that helps cancer cells grow. In some cases, this type of treatment can lead to a complete remission of the cancer.
For cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, doctors might recommend surgery or other options such as radiation or targeted therapy. These newer cancer treatments may damage cancer cells without damaging healthy cells. For example, they might use a drug that targets the enzyme PARP that cancer cells need to thrive.
Focal therapy is a specialized form of prostate cancer treatment that targets the primary tumor in the prostate, leaving the rest of the gland intact. It has a lower side-effect profile than other treatments such as surgery and radiation. Focal therapy is typically used for patients with low to intermediate risk who are not candidates for radical prostatectomy, or who want an alternative to these more invasive therapies.
Focal therapy uses a combination of imaging and biopsies to identify the area of disease in the prostate. Once the target has been identified, a needle probe is placed within the lesion. This probe then delivers some type of energy (cryoablation, irreversible electroporation or focal laser ablation) to destroy the target tissue. The procedure is performed with the patient under anesthesia, and patients are typically released from the hospital one day after the procedure.
There is a growing interest in focal therapy as it provides an option that avoids both the potential for toxicity of conventional whole gland treatment, and the need to watch carefully for evidence of disease progression with active surveillance. However, according to a new essay in JAMA Surgery, the shift to focal therapy will occur only if medical societies and payees develop and adopt robust level I data on ablative techniques.
These data should be based on systematic reviews and registry studies that report on a variety of outcomes including prostate specific antigen, functional outcome measures, and quality of life. The authors also call for standardized methods of measuring and reporting the results of focal therapy, so that comparisons can be made across technologies.
Currently, the most common approach to achieving these goals is template mapping biopsy, which requires a large volume of tissue sample from multiple sites in the prostate, and may result in under-sampling. This can lead to a false negative for disease, and subsequently the need for a subsequent whole-gland treatment.
Another approach to delivering the data necessary to support the development of focal therapy is to use MRI to guide a more targeted biopsy strategy. However, MRI-guided biopsy has not been demonstrated to be superior to repeat systematic TRUS-guided biopsy.
Prostate cancer is cancer that starts in cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. It can lead to symptoms such as blood in the urine and trouble starting or stopping the flow of semen.
Doctors divide prostate cancer into different types based on how the cells look under a microscope. The type tells what kind of treatment you might need.
This cancer develops in the cells that line the acini (a walnut-sized gland located in the prostate, between the bladder and penis). Acinar cell carcinoma is more common in men over 65. It is slower-growing than other types of prostate cancer, and is usually discovered when it has spread to nearby tissues such as the seminal vesicles or the urethra. It is also more likely to be in later stages at diagnosis, limiting treatment options. This type of cancer is most often associated with a family history of the disease and long-term cigarette smoking.
Ductal adenocarcinoma, on the other hand, starts in the cells that line the tubes and ducts of the prostate gland. This form of the disease grows more quickly, and is more likely to spread rapidly. It may develop on its own or in combination with acinar cell carcinoma, and is more frequently diagnosed at later stages of the disease. It is also more common in African-American men.
Acinar-ductal carcinoma can be classified into different subtypes based on their histological characteristics and PSA level. In most cases, a ductal component of the tumor shows papillary, complex glandular (cribriform), comedo or solid growth patterns without desmoplastic fibrous stroma and necrosis. In contrast, an acinar component shows acinar or cribriform patterns of growth with desmoplastic or sclerosing stroma and a glandular shape.
Ductal and acinar components in mixed tumors usually share the same origin and are clonally related. They are also chemo responsive to agents that are effective against pancreatic adenocarcinomas and colorectal cancers because of the common genetic alterations they both exhibit.
Unlike benign tumors that may grow and press on nearby tissues, cancerous cells can actually spread (metastasize) to other regions of the body. This is called distant recurrence or metastatic adenocarcinoma. Cancers that affect glandular tissue—such as those of the prostate, breast, colon and pancreas—are particularly likely to metastasize.
Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), or invasive adenocarcinoma, is when abnormal cancer cells that started in the milk ducts or lobules of the breast have grown outside the ducts and infiltrated surrounding tissues. IDC is the most common type of breast cancer. It’s also the most common type of adenocarcinoma that spreads to other parts of the body.
Like other types of cancer, metastatic adenocarcinomas are very difficult to treat once they’ve reached the late stage. This is because the cells have a tendency to break apart and travel throughout the bloodstream, where they can be found and picked up by other healthy tissues in the body.
Cancer that has spread to other organs is often found when people experience symptoms that can be caused by different kinds of cancer, such as abdominal pain, jaundice, a swollen abdomen and itching. A biopsy is usually needed to confirm the diagnosis and allow for further testing on the tumor cells. A liquid biopsy can be done to look at the DNA of cancer cells that have spread, which may help determine treatment options.
It’s important for anyone who has been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma to understand the various treatment options. A good starting point is to talk with your doctor, who can explain the details of each option and discuss your preferences. It’s also helpful to talk with others who have experienced the same type of cancer and to get support from family, friends and in-person support groups.
This is the most common type of prostate cancer. It starts in the cells that line the prostate gland, a walnut-sized gland in the male reproductive system. The prostate makes semen, and it lies just below the bladder and in front of the rectum. It also surrounds part of the urethra, which carries urine away from the body.
Cells that grow too quickly and are not halted by hormones can become cancerous. They start in one or more places inside the prostate, and they may spread to other tissues in the body.
Doctors use a system called staging to describe how far the cancer has grown or spread. It can help plan treatment. In stage I, the cancer is only in the prostate. In stage II, the cancer is in the prostate but has not yet spread to nearby tissues. In stage III, the cancer has spread to nearby tissues and is causing a higher PSA level than usual.
The cause of prostate cancer is unknown, but many things increase your risk. These include:
Age: The risk of prostate cancer goes up as you get older. It is rare in men younger than 45. Race/ethnicity: African American men have a greater chance of getting the disease than white or Asian men.
Medical history: A family history of the disease increases your risk, especially if your relatives have had it before.
Other diseases or conditions: The condition benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) can make your prostate get bigger, which can cause urination problems. Some symptoms of BPH can look like symptoms of prostate cancer, such as a weak flow of urine or having trouble starting to urinate.
Squamous cell carcinoma starts in the cells that line certain parts of the body, including the surface of the skin (epidermis), the interior walls of the throat and mouth (the linings of the anus, esophagus, and cervix), and the inside lining of the bladder and genital tract (the vulva and anus). It can also develop in the cells that line the lungs and other organs. These cells can become cancerous and grow into tumors that can invade the surrounding tissue or spread (metastasize) to other areas of the body.
Cancer cells grow more quickly and are more likely to spread than normal cells. They can form a tumor that grows into a larger area of the prostate or into surrounding tissue. If it’s caught in the early stages, this type of prostate cancer may not cause any symptoms. But as it gets older, it can become more aggressive and spread to other parts of the body.
Prostate cancer is most common in men who are 50 and older. It’s more common in black men than in white men, and it’s less common in Asian American men. It’s more likely to occur in men with a family history of cancer or with certain genetic mutations, such as Lynch syndrome and the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.
Prostate cancer is usually diagnosed with imaging tests, such as a CT scan or an MRI, or blood tests, such as PSA levels. Symptoms can include urinating frequently, blood in the urine, and pain or burning when you urinate. But it’s important to remember that these symptoms often aren’t caused by cancer and that other health conditions, such as an enlarged prostate or urinary tract infections, can cause similar symptoms.
The kidneys each drain into the bladder through a tube called a ureter. Cancer that starts in the cells that line these tubes is called transitional cell cancer (urothelial carcinoma). This type of cancer usually develops in the upper urinary tract and can spread to other parts of the body, such as the lungs or the bones.
Men with urothelial cancer may have symptoms, such as weak or interrupted flow of urine, blood in the urine or pain in the back, hips or pelvis. Urothelial cancer that hasn’t spread beyond the renal pelvis and ureter is curable in most patients with today’s treatments. However, deeper-invasive tumors aren’t curable.
Prostate cancer begins in the prostate gland, a walnut-size organ that’s found only in males. The prostate gland makes some of the fluid that’s part of semen. Researchers are unsure what causes the gland to change and start growing out of control. When the changes first happen, doctors call them prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN).
The cancer that develops from PIN may be high or low grade. A pathologist gives a biopsy sample a score, using a system that assigns lower grades to samples with smaller, more closely packed cancer cells and higher grades to those with more widely spaced cells. The stage of a person’s prostate cancer describes how much the cancer has grown and whether it has spread to other tissues or areas of the body.
Different treatment plans are used for different types of cancer and stages of prostate cancer. In general, treatments include surgery to remove the tumor and some form of radiation therapy. Some people may also benefit from drugs that stop the growth of cancer cells, such as chemotherapies or targeted therapies.