Prostate Cancer What Are The Symptoms

Can Women Get Prostate Cancer

Women do not have a prostate and, as such, cannot get prostate cancer.

However, that does not mean that they should not be aware of similar cancers that can affect them.

Dr Sanghvi says: It might seem obvious that because women dont have a prostate, they cant get prostate cancer.

However, although very rare, there is a type of cancer that affects the Skenes glands which women can suffer from.

Advanced Prostate Cancer Symptoms

Men with advanced prostate cancer may experience additional symptoms. Thats because the cancer has spread from the prostate to other parts of the body, such as the bones or lymph nodes.

Signs of metastatic prostate cancer may include:

• Swelling in legs or pelvic area
• Numbness or pain in the hips, legs or feet
• Bone pain that persists or leads to fractures

A wide range of treatment options are available for managing advanced cancer. These treatments kill cancer cells, but they may also help patients manage pain.

Prostate cancer treatment: The care you need is one call away

Your multidisciplinary team will work with you to develop a personalized plan to treat your prostate cancer in a way that fits your individual needs and goals.

After Prostate Cancer Has Been Diagnosed Tests Are Done To Find Out If Cancer Cells Have Spread Within The Prostate Or To Other Parts Of The Body

The process used to find out if cancer has spread within theprostate or to other parts of the body is called staging. The information gathered from the staging process determines the stage of the disease. It is important to know the stage in order to plan treatment. The results of the tests used to diagnoseprostate cancer are often also used to stage the disease. In prostate cancer, staging tests may not be done unless the patient has symptoms or signs that the cancer has spread, such as bone pain, a high PSA level, or a high Gleason score.

The following tests and procedures also may be used in the staging process:

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There Are Different Types Of Treatment For Patients With Prostate Cancer

Different types of treatment are available for patients withprostate cancer. Some treatments are standard , and some are being tested in clinical trials. A treatment clinical trial is a research study meant to help improve current treatments or obtain information on new treatments for patients with cancer. When clinical trials show that a new treatment is better than the standard treatment, the new treatment may become the standard treatment. Patients may want to think about taking part in a clinical trial. Some clinical trials are open only to patients who have not started treatment.

How To Book A Prostate Cancer Check

There is no special process to booking a prostate check-up, so simply book an appointment with your GP, and let them know on the day that you would like to be checked.

If you would be more comfortable being checked by a male doctor, then you should let the receptionist know when youre booking.

During your appointment, your GP will access the risk of you having prostate cancer, based on factors such as your age and ethnicity.

They will then be able to perform the initial exam.

Prostate Cancer UK has also created a quick 30-second test to access your risk at home.

Youll be asked three questions on your age, ethnicity, and family history of the disease during the test as these can all factor into the chance that you will get it.

However, it is still recommended that you get checked by your doctor even if your risk factor is low.

Despite how prevalent this cancer can be, it is worth noting that there is no routine NHS prostate screening programme.

Dr Sanghvi has said: for various reasons there is currently no prostate screening programme in the UK.

However, men over the age of 50 can arrange for a blood test after talking to their GP.

If you are black or have a family history of prostate cancer, this service may be available to you after the age of 45.

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Tests For Prostate Cancer

There is no single test for prostate cancer. All the tests used to help diagnose the condition have benefits and risks, which your doctor should discuss with you.

The most commonly used tests for prostate cancer are blood tests, a physical examination of your prostate and a biopsy.

The blood test, known as a prostate-specific antigen test, measures the level of PSA and may help detect early prostate cancer. Men and anyone with a prostate are not routinely offered PSA tests to screen for prostate cancer, as results can be unreliable.

This is because the PSA blood test is not specific to prostate cancer. PSA can be raised due to a large non-cancerous growth of the prostate , a urinary tract infection or inflammation of the prostate, as well as prostate cancer. Raised PSA levels also cannot tell a doctor whether a man has life-threatening prostate cancer or not. This means a raised PSA can lead to unnecessary tests and treatment.

However, you can ask to be tested for prostate cancer once the benefits and risks have been explained to you.

What Are The Stages Of Prostate Cancer

Your healthcare provider uses the Gleason score and Grade Groups to stage prostate cancer based on its projected aggressiveness. To get this information, the pathologist:

• Assigns a grade to each type of cell in your sample. Cells are graded on a scale of three to five . Samples that test in the one to two range are considered normal tissue.
• Adds together the two most common grades to get your Gleason score .
• Uses the Gleason score to place you into a Grade Group ranging from one to five. A Gleason score of six puts you in Grade Group 1 . A score of nine or higher puts you in Grade Group five . Samples with a higher portion of more aggressive cells receive a higher Grade Group.

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Prostate Cancer Stages: What You Need To Know

There are four prostate cancer stages, which refer to how quickly and how far the cancer has spread.

The stages are based on guidelines set by the American Joint Committee on Cancer .

To determine your prostate cancer stage, your doctor will perform a number of tests, including:

• Digital rectal exam, in which your prostate is felt for abnormalities
• A blood test to measure the amount of PSA that’s circulating in your body
• A biopsy to extract cancerous tissue and grade how likely it will spread based on its appearance compared with normal prostate tissue
• Various imaging tests, such as computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans
• Bone scans to look for cancerous cells in bone

A Biopsy Is Done To Diagnose Prostate Cancer And Find Out The Grade Of The Cancer

A transrectal biopsy is used to diagnose prostate cancer. A transrectal biopsy is the removal of tissue from the prostate by inserting a thin needle through the rectum and into the prostate. This procedure may be done using transrectal ultrasound or transrectal MRI to help guide where samples of tissue are taken from. A pathologist views the tissue under a microscope to look for cancer cells.

Sometimes a biopsy is done using a sample of tissue that was removed during a transurethral resection of the prostate to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia.

If cancer is found, the pathologist will give the cancer a grade. The grade of the cancer describes how abnormal the cancer cells look under a microscope and how quickly the cancer is likely to grow and spread. The grade of the cancer is called the Gleason score.

To give the cancer a grade, the pathologist checks the prostate tissue samples to see how much the tumor tissue is like the normal prostate tissue and to find the two main cell patterns. The primary pattern describes the most common tissue pattern, and the secondary pattern describes the next most common pattern. Each pattern is given a grade from 3 to 5, with grade 3 looking the most like normal prostate tissue and grade 5 looking the most abnormal. The two grades are then added to get a Gleason score.

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Who Is More Likely To Develop Prostate Cancer

Anyone who has a prostate can develop prostate cancer. But certain factors can make you more likely to develop it:

• Age. Your chance of developing prostate cancer increases as you get older. Prostate cancer is rare in people under age 50.
• Family health history. Your risk of prostate cancer is higher if you have a parent, sibling, or child who has or has had prostate cancer.
• Race. African Americans are more likely to get prostate cancer. They’re also more likely to:
• Get prostate cancer at a younger age.
• Have more serious prostate cancer.
• Die from prostate cancer.

Expert Review And References

• American Cancer Society. Prostate Cancer Early Detection, Diagnosis, and Staging. 2019: .
• Garnick MB . Harvard Medical School 2015 Annual Report on Prostate Diseases. 2015.
• Hermanns T, Kuk C, Zlotta AR. Clinical presentation, diagnosis and staging. Nargund VH, Raghavan D, Sandler HM . Urological Oncology. Springer 2015: 40: 697-718.
• Logothetis CJ, Kim J, Davis J, Kuban D, Mathew P, Aparicio A. Neoplasms of the prostate. Hong WK, Bast RC Jr, Hait WN, et al . Holland Frei Cancer Medicine. 8th ed. People’s Medical Publishing House 2010: 94: 1228-1254.
• PDQ® Adult Treatment Editorial Board. Prostate Cancer Treatment Patient Version. Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute 2020: .
• PDQ® Adult Treatment Editorial Board. Prostate Cancer Treatment Health Professional Version. Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute 2020: .

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Invisible Blood In Your Urine

The urine sample you leave as part of a routine checkup or other medical visit is often checked for microscopic amounts of blood during a lab test called urinalysis. If even a few red blood cells are found, you should always find out the cause, Lotan says. Though theres usually another explanation, these traces of blood can be the first signs of bladder cancer, he says.

Other possible causes include urinary tract infections, kidney or bladder stones and prostate problems. Women with blood in their urine often are assumed to have urinary tract infections, but that diagnosis should always be confirmed with a culture, a test that finds any bacteria growing in the urine, Bochner says. The assumption that women are unlikely to have bladder cancer is one reason women are diagnosed later and fare worse with the disease than men do, says Eugene Pietzak, also a urologic surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering.

Causes Of Prostate Cancer

It’s not known exactly what causes prostate cancer, although a number of things can increase your risk of developing the condition.

These include:

• age risk rises as you get older and most cases are diagnosed in men and anyone with a prostate over 50 years of age
• ethnic group prostate cancer is more common among men and anyone with a prostate of African-Caribbean and African descent than in men and anyone with a prostate of Asian descent
• family history having a brother or father who developed prostate cancer under the age of 60 seems to increase the risk of you developing it having a close female relative who developed breast cancer may also increase your risk of developing prostate cancer
• obesity there may be a link between obesity and prostate cancer
• exercise men and anyone with a prostate who regularly exercises have also been found to be at lower risk of developing prostate cancer
• diet research is ongoing into the links between diet and prostate cancer a diet high in calcium is linked to an increased risk of developing prostate cancer

In addition, some research has shown that prostate cancer rates appear to be lower in men and anyone with a prostate who eat foods containing certain nutrients including lycopene, found in cooked tomatoes and other red fruit, and selenium, found in brazil nuts. However, more research is needed.

Read further information:

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How Common Is Prostate Cancer And Who Is At Risk

Prostate cancer most often affects men between ages 55 and 69. There is a huge gap between the proportion of men diagnosed with prostate cancer and those whose health and lifespan are affected by the disease. American men have a 16 percent lifetime risk of developing prostate cancer, but only 2.9 percent of men die from it.

In fact, many prostate cancers are believed to be slow growing, with men dying from causes other than prostate cancer. Autopsy studies support this, finding that 30 percent of 55-year-old men and 60 percent of men reaching age 80 on whom an autopsy is performed have autopsy-discovered prostate cancer.

There are some factors that increase risk for prostate cancer, including:

Race Race seems to play a role in the frequency and severity of the disease. African-American men are far more likely to develop prostate cancer than white men 203.5 vs. 121.9 cases per 100,000 men. They are also more than twice as likely as white men to die of prostate cancer 44.1 vs. 19.1 deaths per 100,000 men.

Family History Positive family history of prostate cancer is another risk factor.

Elevated Body Mass Index Elevated BMI is another risk factor, linked to an increased risk of prostate-cancer-specific mortality and biochemical recurrence in men with prostate cancer.

Visible Blood In Your Urine

The first sign of bladder cancer may be blood you see in your urine stream or in the toilet bowl. Usually, its pink or red and isnt accompanied by any pain, Bochner says. Most people otherwise feel perfectly fine people will sometimes think, Well, I may have strained myself or I did something that caused that, he adds.

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How To Involve Your Spouse Or Partner In Your Advanced Prostate Cancer Care

Whether diet can impact either your risk of getting prostate cancer or your prognosis is an area of active study, but there have been few answers so far. Clearer evidence exists with regard to supplements, with the general consensus being that theyre not helpful. The best advice so far: Follow a diet thats good for the heart and focus on whole foods.

Symptoms Of Prostate Cancer

Though early warning signs of prostate cancer are rare, sometimes men experience symptoms before they are diagnosed. The severity of symptoms may depend on where the cancer is located in the prostate and how advanced it has become. However, having any of these symptoms does not necessarily mean that you have prostate cancer or that the disease has progressed beyond its early stages.

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The Top 7 Signs Of Advanced Prostate Cancer

In the early stages, you may not notice any symptoms related to prostate cancer. This is why screenings are important. Symptoms can sometimes be noticed for the first time when the cancer advances.

Advanced prostate cancer, also called metastatic cancer, means the cancer has spread to other areas of your body beyond your prostate gland. The most common areas for prostate cancer to spread are your bladder, rectum, and bones. It can also spread to your lymph nodes, liver, lungs, and other body tissues.

Whether youve just been diagnosed or youre in treatment, its also important to know the signs of advanced cancer. Cancer can behave differently depending on your genetics, so not every person will experience the same symptoms in the same way.

Read on to learn more about the seven top symptoms of advanced prostate cancer and how to spot them.

So What Are The Warning Signs Of Prostate Cancer

Unfortunately, there usually arent any early warning signs for prostate cancer. The growing tumor does not push against anything to cause pain, so for many years the disease may be silent. Thats why screening for prostate cancer is such an important topic for all men and their families.

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In rare cases, prostate cancer can cause symptoms. Contact your doctor for an evaluation if you experience any of the following:

• A need to urinate frequently, especially at night, some- times urgently
• Difficulty starting or holding back urination
• Weak, dribbling, or interrupted flow of urine
• Painful or burning urination
• Difficulty in having an erection
• A decrease in the amount of fluid ejaculated
• Pressure or pain in the rectum
• Pain or stiffness in the lower back, hips, pelvis, or thighs

Remember: urinary symptoms dont necessarily mean you have cancer. Prostatitis or BPH are benign diseases but can cause similar symptoms and are very common.

What about difficulty in having an erection? Again, this is most likely not caused by cancer but by other factors such as diabetes, smoking, cardiovascular disease, or just plain getting older.

That said: Symptoms are symptoms, and no matter whats most likely to be causing them, you should get them checked out by a doctor.

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Treating Advanced Prostate Cancer

If the cancer has reached an advanced stage, it is no longer possible to cure it. However, it may be possible to slow its progression, prolong your life and relieve symptoms.

Treatment options include:

• hormone treatment

If the cancer has spread to your bones, medicines called bisphosphonates may be used. Bisphosphonates help reduce bone pain and bone loss.