Is Prostate Cancer Slow Or Fast Growing

Early Prostate Cancer Detection Includes Detecting Both Slow

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Written by Tavishi Dogra|Published : November 18, 2022 9:01 PM IST

We have Prostate cancer cases of about 34,500 in India each year. It is the 12th most common cause of cancer in our country and forms 2.6% of all cancers. About 50% of all Prostate cancer patients die in developing countries of the disease. It’s the sixth most common cause of cancer amongst men globally. Prostate cancer is a spectrum of conditions not all men diagnosed with prostate cancer require treatment.

How The Prostate Changes As You Age

Because the prostate gland tends to grow larger with age, it may squeeze the urethra and cause problems in passing urine. Sometimes men in their 30s and 40s may begin to have these urinary symptoms and need medical attention. For others, symptoms aren’t noticed until much later in life. An infection or a tumor can also make the prostate larger. Be sure to tell your doctor if you have any of the urinary symptoms listed below.

Tell your doctor if you have these urinary symptoms:

Are passing urine more during the day
Have an urgent need to pass urine
Have less urine flow
Feel burning when you pass urine
Need to get up many times during the night to pass urine

Growing older raises your risk of prostate problems. The three most common prostate problems are inflammation , enlarged prostate , and prostate cancer.

One change does not lead to another. For example, having prostatitis or an enlarged prostate does not increase your risk of prostate cancer. It is also possible for you to have more than one condition at the same time.

What Kind Of Treatment Will I Need

There are many ways to treat prostate cancer. The main kinds of treatment are observation, active surveillance, surgery, radiation, hormone therapy, and chemo. Sometimes more than one kind of treatment is used.

The treatment thats best for you will depend on:

Any other health problems you might have
The stage and grade of the cancer
Your feelings about the need to treat the cancer
The chance that treatment will cure the cancer or help in some way
Your feelings about the side effects that might come with treatment

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Should I Have A Psa Test

The Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme gives you information on risks and benefits of the PSA test to help you decide whether or not to have it. Go to the website
Also, an online decision aid called Prosdex provides information, including real-life stories, to help you make a decision on whether or not to have the PSA test.

Recent Advances: Molecular Markers

Currently, risk stratification for men who have recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer by biopsy is accomplished with the combination of prostate-specific antigen level, clinical stage, and Gleason score or Grade Group. The limitation of using these parameters for risk stratification is that collectively they do not address specific biologic features of prostate cancer, specifically the aggressiveness of tumor cells. In addition, many studies have shown that localized prostate malignancy can vary in potential for progression in different patients, despite similar risk-stratifying characteristics.

This problem has sparked the advent of research and use of biological/genomic assays to help risk stratify men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer. The theory behind utilizing genomic assays is to identify genes in biopsy specimens that potentiate cellular proliferation.

Cooperberg et al aimed to validate the application of the cell cycle progression score in identifying men at risk for recurrent disease after radical prostatectomy. The CCP score identifies genes that promote cellular proliferation. In this study, the CCP score was compared with the Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment post-Surgical , which risk stratifies recurrence after prostatectomy based on pre-procedural PSA, Gleason score, and clinical staging, and has been shown to have good accuracy.

References

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Is Bladder Cancer Fast Or Slow Growing

Your doctor may do some tests to check for bladder cancer:

urine tests your urine will be checked for signs of bladder cancer
blood tests to check your general health
ultrasound a scan on the outside of your abdomen to check for cancer
cystoscopy the doctor puts a small camera into your bladder to see inside
biopsy the doctor takes a small sample of the cells from the bladder to check for signs of cancer.

Your doctor might ask you to have further tests. These can include:

CT scan and x-rays scans that take pictures of the inside of the body, sometimes also called a CT-IVP or a triple phase abdominal-pelvic CT scan
MRI scan a scan that uses magnetism and radio waves to take pictures of the inside of the body
bone scan a scan that uses dye to show changes in your bones
FDG-PET scan a scan that uses an injection of liquid to show cancer cells.

What Is The Outlook

Although some cases of prostate cancer are aggressive, most are not. Most men diagnosed with this disease can expect a good outlook and many years of life ahead of them. The earlier your cancer is diagnosed, the better your outlook. Diagnosing and treating prostate cancer early can improve your chance of finding curative treatment. Even men who are diagnosed in later stages can benefit greatly from treatment. These benefits include reducing or eliminating symptoms, slowing further growth of the cancer, and prolonging life by many years.

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What Was Your First Breast Cancer Symptom

Changes in the color of your breasts, such as redness. A rapid change in the shape of your breast or an increase in breast size over a short period. Changes in the way your breasts feel when you touch them they may be hard, tender, or warm to the touch. Flaking or peeling or flaking of the nipple skin.

What Are The Treatment Options For Bladder Cancer

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There are four types of treatment for patients with bladder cancer. These include:

Sometimes, combinations of these treatments will be used.

Surgical options

Surgery is a common treatment option for bladder cancer. The type of surgery chosen will depend on the stage of the cancer.

Transurethral resection of the bladder is used most often for early stage disease . It is done under general or spinal anesthesia. In this procedure, a special telescope called a resectoscope is inserted through the urethra into the bladder. The tumor is then trimmed away with the resectoscope, using a wire loop, and the raw surface of the bladder is then fulgurated .
Partial cystectomy is the removal of a section of the bladder. At times, it is used for a single tumor that invades the bladder wall in only one region of the bladder. This type of surgery retains most of the bladder. Chemotherapy or radiation therapy is often used in combination. Only a minority of patients will qualify for this bladder-sparing procedure.
Radical cystectomy is complete removal of the bladder. It is used for more extensive cancers and those that have spread beyond the bladder .

Chemotherapy

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Future Predictors Of Prostate Cancer

Researchers are seeking more accurate ways of diagnosing, monitoring, and treating prostate cancer. Many of the studies focus on genes and genetic abnormalities of a cancer. Scientists have found that the product of a certain gene appears more often in advanced prostate cancers than in early stage prostate cancers. Now the goal is to determine if the presence of this gene product means that a cancer is more aggressive. Knowing this information can help doctors decide which patients may benefit from immediate treatment, and of what type. This and other genetic research will pave the way for earlier, more accurate predictors of cancer growth.

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What Are The Signs Of Prostate Cancer

Most early prostate cancers are detected with PSA tests or digital rectal exams before they cause any symptoms. However, more advanced prostate cancers can cause a variety of symptoms including:

Trouble starting to urinate .
Urinating much more often than usual.
The feeling that you canât release all of your urine.
Impotence/erectile dysfunction.
Numbness in the lower extremities.
Loss of bladder or bowel control.

All of these symptoms can be caused by things other than prostate cancer, so experiencing them doesnât necessarily mean you have prostate cancer. When older men have problems urinating, it is usually caused by a problem called benign prostatic hyperplasia , which is not prostate cancer. If you have any of these symptoms, you need to see your provider for testing.

How Is Prostate Cancer Diagnosed

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Screenings are the most effective way to catch prostate cancer early. If you are at average cancer risk, youll probably have your first prostate screening at age 55. Your healthcare provider may start testing earlier if you have a family history of the disease or are Black. Screening is generally stopped after age 70, but may be continued in certain circumstances.

Screening tests for prostate cancer include:

Digital rectal exam: Your provider inserts a gloved, lubricated finger into the rectum and feels the prostate gland, which sits in front of the rectum. Bumps or hard areas could indicate cancer.
Prostate-specific antigen blood test: The prostate gland makes a protein called protein-specific antigen . Elevated PSA levels may indicate cancer. Levels also rise if you have BPH or prostatitis.
Biopsy: A needle biopsy to sample tissue for cancer cells is the only sure way to diagnose prostate cancer. During an MRI-guided prostate biopsy, magnetic resonance imaging technology provides detailed images of the prostate.

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Side Effects Of Prostate Surgery

The major possible side effects of radical prostatectomy are urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction . These side effects can also occur with other forms of prostate cancer treatment.

Urinary incontinence: You may not be able to control your urine or you may have leakage or dribbling. Being incontinent can affect you not only physically but emotionally and socially as well. These are the major types of incontinence:

Men with stress incontinence might leak urine when they cough, laugh, sneeze, or exercise. Stress incontinence is the most common type after prostate surgery. Itâs usually caused by problems with the valve that keeps urine in the bladder . Prostate cancer treatments can damage this valve or the nerves that keep the valve working.
Men with overflow incontinence have trouble emptying their bladder. They take a long time to urinate and have a dribbling stream with little force. Overflow incontinence is usually caused by blockage or narrowing of the bladder outlet by scar tissue.
Men with urge incontinencehave a sudden need to urinate. This happens when the bladder becomes too sensitive to stretching as it fills with urine.
Rarely after surgery, men lose all ability to control their urine. This is called continuous incontinence.

After surgery for prostate cancer, normal bladder control usually returns within several weeks or months. This recovery usually occurs slowly over time.

There are several options for treating erectile dysfunction:

How Active Surveillance Works

The Gleason score is just one way that doctors monitor prostate cancer during active surveillance. They also do periodic follow-up biopsies and measure PSA levels, which may rise if cancer starts to spread in the prostate. Doctors may recommend treatment sooner if PSA begins to rise quickly or if a follow up biopsy reveals a higher Gleason score or more widespread cancer within the prostate. Its an inexact science that depends on a doctors skill and experience and a mans willingness to wait for signs that a cancer poses a clear threat before opting for treatment and its potential for side effects.

Penney says she and her Harvard colleagues are among the many scientists now searching for better ways to predict which prostate cancers are likely to be lethal and which can be monitored and not treated. The answer may be found in genetic changes in prostate cancer cells that signal a higher threat. But finding a better way to predict which prostate cancers are likely to turn lethal is far from guaranteed.

Some believe its not possible, Penney says. After the cancer is diagnosed, so many things can change in unknown ways. Diet, exercise, and other lifestyle factors, for example, could affect whether low-risk prostate cancers become more aggressive or threatening over time.

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Talking With Your Doctor

Different kinds of doctors and other health care professionals manage prostate health. They can help you find the best care, answer your questions, and address your concerns. These health care professionals include:

Family doctors and internists
Physician assistants and nurse practitioners
Urologists, who are experts in diseases of the urinary tract system and the male reproductive system
Urologic oncologists, who are experts in treating cancers of the urinary system and the male reproductive system
Radiation oncologists, who use radiation therapy to treat cancer
Medical oncologists, who treat cancer with medications such as hormone treatments and chemotherapy
Pathologists, who identify diseases by studying cells and tissues under a microscope

View these professionals as your partnersâexpert advisors and helpers in your health care. Talking openly with your doctors can help you learn more about your prostate changes and the tests to expect.

Physical Emotional And Social Effects Of Cancer

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Cancer and its treatment cause physical symptoms and side effects, as well as emotional, social, and financial effects. Managing all of these effects is called palliative care or supportive care. It is an important part of your care that is included along with treatments intended to slow, stop, or eliminate the cancer.

Palliative care focuses on improving how you feel during treatment by managing symptoms and supporting patients and their families with other, non-medical needs. Any person, regardless of age or type and stage of cancer, may receive this type of care. And it often works best when it is started right after a cancer diagnosis. People who receive palliative care along with treatment for the cancer often have less severe symptoms, better quality of life, and report that they are more satisfied with treatment.

Palliative treatments vary widely and often include medication, nutritional changes, relaxation techniques, emotional and spiritual support, and other therapies. You may also receive palliative treatments similar to those meant to get rid of the cancer, such as chemotherapy, surgery, or radiation therapy.

Before treatment begins, talk with your doctor about the goals of each treatment in the treatment plan. You should also talk about the possible side effects of the specific treatment plan and palliative care options.

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What Stages Have To Do With Cancer Spread

Cancers are staged according to tumor size and how far it has spread at the time of diagnosis. Stages help doctors decide which treatments are most likely to work and give a general outlook.

There are different types of staging systems and some are specific to certain types of cancer. The following are the basic stages of cancer:

In situ. Precancerous cells have been found, but they havent spread to surrounding tissue.
Localized. Cancerous cells havent spread beyond where they started.
Regional. Cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes, tissues, or organs.
Distant. Cancer has reached distant organs or tissues.
Unknown. Theres not enough information to determine the stage.

Stage 0 or CIS. Abnormal cells have been found but have not spread into surrounding tissue. This is also called precancer.
Stages 1, 2, and 3. The diagnosis of cancer is confirmed. The numbers represent how large the primary tumor has grown and how far the cancer has spread.
Stage 4. Cancer has metastasized to distant parts of the body.

Your pathology report may use the TNM staging system, which provides more detailed information as follows:

T: Size of primary tumor

TX: primary tumor cant be measured
T0: primary tumor cant be located
T1, T2, T3, T4: describes the size of the primary tumor and how far it may have grown into surrounding tissue

N: Number of regional lymph nodes affected by cancer

M: Whether cancer has metastasized or not

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Stage Iv Prostate Cancer Prognosis

Prostate cancers detected at the distant stage have an average five-year survival rate of 28 percent, which is much lower than local and regional cancers of the prostate. This average survival rate represents stage IV prostate cancers that have metastasized beyond nearby areas to lymph nodes, organs or bones in other parts of the body.

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What Is Advanced Prostate Cancer

When prostate cancer spreads beyond the prostate or returns after treatment, it is often called advanced prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is often grouped into four stages, with stages III and IV being more advanced prostate cancer.

Early Stage | Stages I & II: The tumor has not spread beyond the prostate.
Locally Advanced | Stage III: Cancer has spread outside the prostate but only to nearby tissues.
Advanced | Stage IV: Cancer has spread outside the prostate to other parts such as the lymph nodes, bones, liver or lungs.

When an early stage prostate cancer is found, it may be treated or placed on surveillance . Advanced prostate cancer is not curable, but there are many ways to treat it. Treatment can help slow advanced prostate cancer progression.

There are several types of advanced prostate cancer, including:

Biochemical Recurrence

With biochemical recurrence, the prostate-specific antigen level has risen after treatment using surgery or radiation, with no other sign of cancer.

Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Non-Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer that no longer responds to hormone treatment and is only found in the prostate. This is found by a rise in the PSA level, while the testosterone level stays low. Imaging tests do not show signs the cancer has spread.

Metastatic Prostate Cancer

Lymph nodes outside the pelvis
Other organs, such as liver or lungs