Types Of Cancers That Are More Likely To Go Undetected
Some cancers are more easily detected than others. For example, certain types of skin cancer can be diagnosed initially just by visual inspection though a biopsy is necessary to confirm the diagnosis.
But other cancers can form and grow undetected for 10 years or more, as one study found, making diagnosis and treatment that much more difficult.
This table provides an overview of common cancers that often display little or no symptoms early on, and how theyre typically detected and diagnosed:
| Type of cancer |
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Are There Differences Between Orp Lrp And Ralrp
According to a 2010 of different surgery types for prostate cancer, the outcomes for open radical prostatectomy , laparoscopic , and robotic-assisted prostatectomy are not significantly different.
But people who choose LRP and RALRP may experience:
- less blood loss
- shorter hospital stay
- faster recovery time
Also, people who choose RALRP report faster recovery in continence and decreased hospital stay, in comparison to LRP. But the overall outcomes still depend on the surgeons experience and skill.
Facts Every Man Should Know Before Prostate Cancer Surgery
Many men want to know what prostate cancer surgery is like, including what to expect before surgery and what to expect afterwards.
Here are my findings based upon more than 1,000 phone calls to men the day before surgery, almost 700 visits to men the day after surgery and hundreds of calls from men in the weeks following surgery.
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What To Expect After Prostate Removal
Prostate removal is an effective treatment option for prostate cancer. A radical prostatectomy, which removes the entire prostate gland as well as some surrounding tissue, takes a few hours to complete.
Here are three things you can expect after your prostate is removed.
Prostate removal is major surgery, so expect some soreness and pain. Youll receive IV pain medications at first, and your doctor may prescribe you pain medication to use at home. You will also have a urinary catheter in place for about the first week, which you might find uncomfortable.
Most patients are up and moving the day of surgery and go home the following day. Although you will need to rest and gradually resume physical activity, urologist Mina Fam, M.D., emphasizes the importance of movement. I want patients up and walking the same day of surgery because any kind of cancer surgery has a risk for blood clotting, Dr. Fam says. I encourage patients to keep walking during their recovery.
Expect it to take about four weeks to start feeling back to your normal self if your surgery was done robotically and up to six weeks with a traditional open approach.
Treatment options include:
- Counseling
Work with your doctor to find a treatment that is right for you.
Another change to expect in your sex life is that, because the seminal vesicles are removed during surgery, you wont ejaculate semen during orgasm.
- Medication
Pain During Erection Or Ejaculation
Some men find that erections and ejaculating is painful after surgery, or during and after their course of radiotherapy.
Painful erections following surgery could be due to internal bruising caused by the operation. The tube which carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body gets inflamed by the radiotherapy treatment.
This side effect should disappear a few weeks after you finish radiotherapy or as you recover from surgery. Talk to your specialist nurse for specific advice. If masturbation and sex is important to you, its important to keep stimulating the penis to keep it healthy. On the other hand, if erections are very painful, you might need to avoid ejaculation for a while and try again later.
The penile injections to stimulate an erection can cause painful erections in some men. This pain might lessen with continued treatment.
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What Are Next Steps
Bone metastasis have a profound effect on the long-term outlook for prostate cancer. But its important to remember that the numbers are only statistics.
The good news is that life expectancy for advanced prostate cancer continues to increase. New treatments and therapies offer both longer life and better quality of life. Speak to your doctor about your treatment options and long-term outlook.
Everyones cancer experience is different. You may find support through sharing your treatment plan with friends and family. Or you can turn to local community groups or online forums like Male Care for advice and reassurance.
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What Is A Prostatectomy
A prostatectomy is a surgical procedure for the partial or complete removalof the prostate. It may be performed to treatprostate cancerorbenign prostatic hyperplasia.
A common surgical approach to prostatectomy includes making a surgicalincision and removing the prostate gland . This may beaccomplished with either of two methods, the retropubic or suprapubicincision , or a perineum incision .
Prior to having a prostatectomy, it’s often necessary to have aprostate biopsy. Please see this procedure for additional information.
Prostate Cancer: Treatment Advances You Should Know About
Prostate cancer treatment has entered the robotics age. Using advancedrobotic technology, Johns Hopkins surgeons can see the prostate in 3-D,magnifying everything 10 times. Johns Hopkins urologist Mohamad Allaf, M.D., explains what this means for patients, including fewer side effects.
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Surgery To Remove Your Prostate Gland
You might have surgery to remove your prostate gland if:
- your cancer hasn’t spread outside the prostate gland
- you are younger and have a fast growing tumour
- as part of treatment for locally advanced or high risk localised prostate cancer
The aim of a radical prostatectomy operation is to cure prostate cancer. It is major surgery with some possible side effects. If you’re an older man with a slow growing prostate cancer, this type of surgery may not be necessary for you. This is because your cancer might grow so slowly that you’re more likely to die of old age or other causes than from prostate cancer.
Types Of Radical Prostatectomy
There are three main types of radical prostatectomy:
- Retropubic. In this procedure, the surgeon uses an incision in the lower abdomen to remove the prostate and the lymph nodes for examination. This procedure allows for a nerve-sparing approach, which can lower but not totally eliminate the risk of impotence following surgery. In the nerve-sparing approach, the surgeon tries to preserve one or both of the small nerve bundles needed for unassisted erections. However, if the cancer has spread to the nerves, this approach may not be advised.
- Laparoscopic. In this recently developed procedure, the prostate is removed in a fashion similar to a retropubic prostatectomy, but the procedure is performed through five very small incisions using lighted, magnified scopes and cameras. The prostate specimen is then removed in a small bag through one of the incisions, which is expanded to 2 to 3 cm to allow specimen removal.Potential benefits of this procedure are less pain and earlier return to full activities. Nerve-sparing methods and lymph node dissections can be performed with this technique as well.
- Perineal. In this procedure, the prostate is removed through an incision in the skin between the scrotum and anus. The lymph nodes can’t be removed through this incision. If the lymph nodes need to be examined, removal can be done through a small abdominal incision or by a laparoscopic procedure. A nerve-sparing approach can be performed perineally.
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Focal Ablation And Active Surveillance May Control Prostate Cancer
Organ-sparing surgery for prostate cancer has the potential to circumvent the side effects of radical prostatectomy, but whether it would control disease has been unclear, since prostate cancer is typically multifocal. A team led by Dr. Lepor has recently demonstrated that in select patients, focal ablation may achieve an acceptable level of disease control when paired with careful postsurgical monitoring.
The study, published online in Urology in October 2017, relied on rigorous MRI-guided prostate mapping to identify 59 men who were candidates for focal ablation but chose radical prostatectomy between 2012 and 2016. The criteria included a single reported MRI lesion concordant with a biopsy Gleason score less than eight, no gross extraprostatic extension on MRI, no GS above six or six with a core length greater than five millimeters contralateral to the reported MRI lesion.
Skeptics of focal ablation should remember that more than half of men whose low-risk disease is managed with active surveillance have undiagnosed Gleason pattern 4 disease, says Dr. Lepor. Ultimately, the efficacy of focal ablation will need to be confirmed through randomized control studies comparing it with other treatment options, he adds.
Advanced MRI identifies optimal cases for focal ablation.
Life After Prostate Removal
Categories:Cancer Survivorship,Prostate Cancer,Survivorship & Side Effects
For many men with prostate cancer, prostate removal is never needed because the cancer is often slow-growing and managed with non-surgical treatments. But, if the cancer has grown beyond the prostate, the oncologist may recommend prostate removal surgery, also called a prostatectomy. If you are going to have prostate removal surgery, this information can help you in your discussion with the doctors.
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Radical Prostatectomy Prolongs Life Expectancy Of Men With Prostate Cancer
Bill-Axelson A, et al. N Engl J Med. 2018 doi:10.1056/NEJMoal807801.
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Men with clinically detected, localized prostate cancer and long life expectancies gained an average of 2.9 years of life after undergoing radical prostatectomy, according to a randomized study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers also found that high Gleason scores and the presence of extracapsular extension in the radical prostatectomy specimens were highly predictive of death of prostate cancer.
Radical prostatectomy reduces mortality among men with clinically detected localized prostate cancer, but evidence from randomized trials with long-term follow up is sparse,Anna Bill-Axelson, MD, PhD, of the department of surgical sciences at Uppsala University, and colleagues wrote. The strengths of our trial are the randomized design, the completeness of the long-term follow-up data, and the blinded evaluation of causes of death.
Researchers randomly assigned 695 men with localized prostate cancer all of whom were aged younger than 75 years, had a life expectancy of at least 10 years, and had no other known cancer that could shorten survival to watchful waiting or a radical prostatectomy between 1989 and 1999. All men had PSA levels lower than 50 ng/mL.
Death of any cause, death of prostate cancer and metastasis served as study endpoints.
What Are Some Ways To Provide Emotional Support To A Person Who Is Living With And Dying Of Cancer
Everyone has different needs, but some worries are common to most dying patients. Two of these concerns are fear of abandonment and fear of being a burden. People who are dying also have concerns about loss of dignity and loss of control. Some ways caregivers can provide comfort to a person with these worries are listed below:
- Keep the person company. Talk, watch movies, read, or just be with them.
- Allow the person to express fears and concerns about dying, such as leaving family and friends behind. Be prepared to listen.
- Be willing to reminisce about the persons life.
- Avoid withholding difficult information. Most patients prefer to be included in discussions about issues that concern them.
- Reassure the patient that you will honor advance directives, such as living wills.
- Ask if there is anything you can do.
- Respect the persons need for privacy.
- Support the persons spirituality. Let them talk about what has meaning for them, pray with them if theyd like, and arrange visits by spiritual leaders and church members, if appropriate. Keep objects that are meaningful to the person close at hand.
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How Would You Say Prostate Orgasms Differ From Penile Ones
Fred: Theyre way more intense. Penile orgasms are quicker, and they dont feel anywhere near as good. I love both, naturally, but for me, a penile orgasm is a quick release, whereas getting a prostate orgasm is a full eyes rolled back situation.
Alan: The obvious answer for me is the different location of the sensations. Oftentimes, with prostate orgasms, I have engaged my entire body. On top of that, it doesnt have to mean an ejaculation, thus changing how we define what the climax of our sexual pleasure is. I often find, depending on the situation, that I can have sex longer with a prostate orgasm.
Evan: Prostate orgasms are a lot more full-body. I feel it more in my legs and torso, rather than just locally in my dick. Also, sometimes I cum kind of quickly from penile orgasms, and with prostate stimulation, I last longer in every way. The resulting orgasm is generally longer and “slower” than just stimulation from my dick.
Drew: In my experience, p-spot orgasms are really different from penile ones. When I cum via penile stimulation it feels like a quick and heavy punch to my pleasure center, followed by a really nice burst/release prostate orgasms are much more intense and drawn out. At some point, I usually start oozing cum , which can go on for quite a while. I liken this all to an ocean wave on the beach, undulating between crashing up the shore and receding back down to the sea, only to come back once more.
What Happens Without Treatment
Physicians will sometimes talk about a particular diseases natural history or typical progression if it is left untreated indefinitely.
With regard to prostate cancer, most cases of the disease are discovered while the cancer is still confined to the prostate itself. This is called local disease or localized disease.
The disease is easiest to treat while it is confined to the prostate. At this stage, surgery and radiation are most likely to be curative and completely kill or remove whatever cancer cells are present.
If left untreated, however, prostate cancer can proceed on a number of different paths.
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How To Locate Your Prostate
This article was medically reviewed by Erik Kramer, DO, MPH. Dr. Erik Kramer is a Primary Care Physician at the University of Colorado, specializing in internal medicine, diabetes, and weight management. He received his Doctorate in Osteopathic Medicine from the Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2012. Dr. Kramer is a Diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine and is board certified.There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 194,296 times.
The prostate is a walnut-sized organ in males that plays a major role in the production of semen. The easiest way to access the prostate is by way of an index finger carefully inserted into the rectum. The processes for accessing the prostate as part of a medical exam or for sexual pleasure are the same, and the same precautions should be taken. You should also keep an eye out for signs of potential prostate problems and contact your doctor as needed.
Prostate Cancer Is Common With Aging
After skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. About 1 in 7 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. And these are just the men who are diagnosed. Among very elderly men dying of other causes, a surprising two-thirds may have prostate cancer that was never diagnosed.
Only 1 in 36 men, though, actually dies from prostate cancer. That’s because most prostate cancers are diagnosed in older men in whom the disease is more likely to be slow-growing and non-aggressive. The majority of these men eventually pass away from heart disease, stroke, or other causes — not their prostate cancer.
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Tips For Relieving Bph Symptoms
Four simple steps can help relieve some of the symptoms of BPH:
For more on advances in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate diseases, read the Annual Report on Prostate Diseases from Harvard Medical School.