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Where Is Prostate Cancer Likely To Spread

Where Prostate Cancer Spreads

Those with prostate cancer more likely to suffer fractures, study finds

Many patients ask, can prostate cancer spread? The answer is, yes. Roughly 80 percent of the time 4 , when prostate cancer cells spread, they spread to bones 5 . Often, the cells spread to the hips, spine, and pelvic bones. This either happens as the cells travel through the blood or lymph nodes or direct invasion. When the cells relocate, they grow and form new tumors .

The good news is that for most men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer, its not terminal. Over 3.1 million men in America who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer are alive today.

Aside from skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer 6 in American men, with 1 of 9 men diagnosed in their lifetime. If caught early, there are a variety of treatments, including taking the holistic approach to prostate cancer.

What Causes Prostate Cancer And Am I At Risk

Every man is at risk for prostate cancer as he ages. Although prostate cancer can affect younger men, about 6 out of 10 cases are diagnosed in men over the age of 65. The average age of diagnosis is 66. After non-melanoma skin cancer, prostate is the most common cancer diagnosed in men in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimates there will be 248,530 new cases of prostate cancer each year.

Although there are several known risk factors for getting prostate cancer, no one knows exactly why one man gets it and another doesn’t. Some important risk factors for prostate cancer are:

A New Perspective On Your Health

For many people, survivorship serves as a strong motivator to make lifestyle changes.

People recovering from prostate cancer are encouraged to follow established guidelines for good health, such as not smoking, limiting alcohol, eating well, maintaining a healthy weight, and managing stress. Regular physical activity can help rebuild your strength and energy level. Your health care team can help you create an appropriate exercise plan based upon your needs, physical abilities, and fitness level. Learn more about making healthy lifestyle choices.

It is important to have recommended medical checkups and tests to take care of your health.

Talk with your health care team to develop a survivorship care plan that is best for your needs.

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A Potential Method To Prevent Prostate Cancer From Spreading In The Future

Recent studies have detected a transcription factor known as STAT3 as a promoter of prostate cancer metastasis. It has been proposed as a potential target to inhibit metastasis.

A study published in 2021 showed for the first time how a STAT3 inhibitor could obstruct the progression of prostate cancer. In other words, it wont allow prostate cancer to spread to the bone .

However, we should note that the latter is the first study performed in animal models. It should be replicated and tested several times in clinical trials before finding an application in humans.

Receiving Treatment For Prostate Cancer That Has Spread

When prostate cancer spreads, it most often spreads to the ...

At Moffitt Cancer Center, the experts within our Urologic Oncology Program treat patients with all stages of prostate cancer, including advanced-stage cancers that have metastasized to other areas of the body. Our multispecialty team collaborates as a tumor board, ensuring each patient receives a treatment plan tailored to his unique needs. For individuals with metastatic prostate cancer, treatment plans aim to alleviate symptoms, slow the rate of cancer growth and shrink tumors to help improve quality of life.

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Treatment Of Prostate Cancer

Early detection is the best way to start treatment. Treatment will come in various forms and will be dependent on the stage at which cancer has gotten to. The treatments can also have side effects. These treatments are:

  • Watchful waiting or active surveillance
  • Surgery
  • Bisphosphonate therapy.
  • When in doubt, you notice symptoms, have a family history of prostate cancer or are in the age risk zone, you can consult with our doctor when you call 080 8111 1121. Early screening is the best chance against prostate cancer. You can also book a PSA blood test by contacting the same number above.

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    How Can You Detect Prostate Cancer Early

    Testing healthy men with no symptoms for prostate cancer is controversial. However, many doctors do recommend asymptomatic men over the age of 50 years old, especially those with other risk factors, to get screened for prostate cancer routinely because there are often no symptoms in the early stages. The advantage of routine screening is early detection of cancer and treatment with the possibility of complete cure.

    Prostate screening tests might include the following

    Digital rectal exam : This is a part of a physical examination performed by a doctor on an outpatient basis. The doctor, with gloves on, inserts a finger into the rectum to examine the prostate to feel the texture and assess the shape and size. The prostate is situated adjacent to the rectum. The doctor uses a numbing lubricant while performing the exam to reduce discomfort.Prostate-specific antigen test: This is a blood test to detect the level of PSA, a substance that is naturally produced by the prostate gland. If the PSA level is higher than normal, it indicates prostate abnormalities. PSA levels are usually also increased in cases of prostate infection or benign enlargement of the prostate. The PSA test is also done to monitor disease progress and response to treatment.

    Diagnostic tests for prostate cancer

    If there are abnormal findings in the screening tests, the doctor may advise the following diagnostic tests.

    Detection of metastasis

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    How To Tell If Your Cancer Has Metastasized

    Prostate cancer metastasis may be suspected if you have specific symptoms such as new lower back pain or elevated liver enzymes. These may be signs your cancer has spread to your spine or your liver, respectively. If your prostate-specific antigen levels continue to rise despite treatment, especially if they are rising particularly fast, this may be a sign that cancer is metastasizing somewhere in your body.

    Hormonal Therapy For Aggressive Prostate Cancer: How Long Is Enough

    Where Does Prostate Cancer Spread To?
    • By Charlie Schmidt, Editor, Harvard Medical School Annual Report on Prostate Diseases

    Men weighing treatment options for intermediate- or high-risk cancer that is still localized to the prostate can face a tricky question. A standard approach in these cases is to give radiation to the prostate along with drugs that block testosterone, a hormone that makes the cancer cells grow faster. For how long should this hormone therapy last? Thats not entirely clear. The drugs have side effects, such as fatigue, impotence, and a loss of muscle mass. But radiation doesnt control prostate cancer effectively without them. Doctors therefore aim to give hormone therapy only for as long as it takes to help their patients, without causing any undue harm.

    Now, newly published results from a phase 3 clinical trial are providing some needed guidance.

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    Why Does Prostate Cancer Spread

    Medical treatment of metastatic prostate cancer is challenging and not appropriate for all patients. Luckily, prostate cancer is usually very slow to progress.

    Many patients will remain stagnant in a stage of localized prostate cancer. Others will continue rapidly, spreading locally and to other organs.

    Why is cancer progression so different among patients? Why does prostate cancer spread?

    In this article, were covering the topic of prostate cancer metastasis. After considering the incidence and why it happens, we talk about prevention and how you know prostate cancer is spreading locally or to distant organs.

    Two Main Models Of Metastasis

    The first model hypothesizes that metastasis-initiating cells need to undergo deep molecular rearrangements to proceed through the various steps of the metastatic cascade, and is often referred to as the phenotypic plasticity model. To leave the primary tumor site, cancer cells must undergo EMT. This process enables them to become more invasive and motile, allowing migration toward gradients of oxygen and nutrients brought by the vasculature associated to the tumor, often leaky, unorganized, and incompletely formed. However, recent literature has pointed out that EMT might be a dispensable process for the occurrence of metastasis but fundamental for the acquisition of chemoresistance .

    In the process of initial seeding, cellcell interactions and cell adhesion to the ECM play a critical role. The ECM of the growing cancer undergoes numerous alterations in terms of both biochemical and physical properties . Integrins play a pivotal role in tumor progression, as they can couple ECM-derived mechanical cues with intracellular signaling pathways .

    Metastatic PCas show higher levels of active 1 integrin, which confers both an enhanced capacity to colonize distant organs, through the adhesion to ECM molecules like fibronectin and collagen type I, and a survival advantage, through an increase in the resistance to anoikisthe programmed cell death induced by insufficient adhesion to the growth substrate .

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    What Causes Prostate Cancer

    While the exact cause of prostate cancer is unknown, generally speaking it results from mutations in cell DNA.

    • DNA is the chemical that makes up your genes, which control when your cells grow, divide into new cells and die.
    • DNA mutations that turn on oncogenes or that turn off tumor-suppressor genes can cause prostate cells to grow abnormally and lead to cancer.

    Treatments For Prostate Cancer Spread To Bones

    Prostate Cancer

    If prostate cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it nearly always goes to the bones first. Bone metastasis can be painful and can cause other problems, such as fractures , spinal cord compression , or high blood calcium levels, which can be dangerous or even life threatening.

    If the cancer has grown outside the prostate, preventing or slowing the spread of the cancer to the bones is a major goal of treatment. If the cancer has already reached the bones, controlling or relieving pain and other complications is also a very important part of treatment.

    Treatments such as hormone therapy, chemotherapy, and vaccines may help with this, but other treatments specifically target bone metastasis and the problems it may cause.

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    Who Is More Likely To Have Prostate Cancer Recurrence

    In general, the further your cancer has spread and the more aggressive it is, the more likely it is to recur. Specific factors include:

    • Tumor size: In general, the larger the tumor, the more likely it is to recur.
    • Gleason score: A higher Gleason score means a more aggressive cancer and a higher rate of recurrence.
    • Cancer staging: Staging refers to how far the cancer has spread. Higher stage cancers have spread further at initial treatment and have higher rates of recurrence.
    • Involvement of the lymph nodes: Prostate cancer that has entered the lymph nodes prior to treatment is more likely to recur.

    What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Prostate Cancer

    Prostate cancer may not cause any signs and symptoms in the early stages. Hence, it is advisable for men over 50 years of age with or without other risk factors to consult with a doctor to be screened for prostate cancer.

    Prostate cancer can cause the following signs and symptoms in the later stages

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    What Are The Treatments For Prostate Cancer

    There are many different ways to treat prostate cancer. For prostate cancer, it is important that you get a second opinion and you will most likely be consulting multiple types of healthcare providers before making a final decision. You should talk to both urologists and radiation oncologists to hear about the benefits and risks of surgery, hormonal therapy and radiation in your particular case. If your prostate cancer has already spread at the time of diagnosis, you will also need a medical oncologist to talk about chemotherapy. The most important thing is to review your options and make a decision that best suits your lifestyle, beliefs and values.

    Active Surveillance

    Surgery

    Surgery is a common form of treatment for men with prostate cancer. Surgery attempts to cure prostate cancer by removing the entire prostate and getting all of the cancer out of the body. An attempt at a surgical cure for prostate cancer is usually done with early stage prostate cancers. However, sometimes surgery will be used to relieve symptoms in advanced stage prostate cancers.

    Talk to your surgeon about their complication rates before your operation. With surgery, urinary incontinence and impotence are often most severe right after the operation and generally get better with time. There are things that your providers can recommend to help you with either of these problems. Talk to your urologist about your options.

    Radiation

    Hormonal Deprivation Therapy

    Chemotherapy

    Watchful Waiting And Active Surveillance

    How to Know If Cancer Has Spread | Prostate Cancer

    Watchful waiting is an adequate approach in patients who are at low risk of death from prostate cancer because of their limited life expectancy due to severe comorbidities., Watchful waiting resulted in similar overall survival when compared with radical prostatectomy, but disease-specific survival was better in patients who had undergone surgery. For some patients it turns out to be hard to persist on a watchful waiting policy, and many men drop out and seek active treatment within several years, mostly when PSA elevation is noted.

    Active surveillance is a novel and fascinating approach to distinguish between patients who are at higher risk and need active therapy and patients who are at low risk for disease progression., This approach avoids the risks of therapy while allowing early detection of those patients who are prone to progress. In these high-risk individuals, delayed active treatment is offered. Periodic monitoring of the PSA serum level, digital rectal exam, and repeated prostate biopsies are performed in patients who are on active surveillance, and active therapy is started when predefined threshold values are reached. This concept makes it possible to offer curative treatment to individuals who are at high risk for disease progression as indicated by active surveillance parameters.

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    How Is Prostate Cancer Treated

    The treatment options of prostate cancer depend on the aggressiveness of the tumor, whether it is metastasized and the overall health of the patient. Treatment may involve one or a combination of multiple treatment modalities.

    Treatment options include

    IMAGES Browse through our medical image collection to see illustrations of human anatomy and physiology See Images

    Are Prostate Problems Always A Sign Of Prostate Cancer

    Not all growths in the prostate are cancerous, and not all prostate problems indicate cancer. Other conditions that cause similar prostate cancer symptoms include:

    • Benign prostatic hyperplasia : At some point, almost every man will develop benign prostatic hyperplasia . This condition enlarges the prostate gland but doesnt increase cancer risk. The swollen gland squeezes the urethra and blocks the flow of semen and urine. Medications, and sometimes surgery, can help.
    • Prostatitis: Men younger than 50 are more prone to prostatitis, inflammation and swelling of the prostate gland. Bacterial infections are often the cause. Treatments include antibiotics or other medications.

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    Faqs About Prostate Cancer That Has Spread To The Bones

    Learn what this diagnosis means for your health and your future, and what you can do to feel strong and well supported.

    Thinkstock

    The prostate is a gland the size of a golf ball that sits below the bladder and in front of the rectum. Its responsible for making the fluid that forms semen. Many men develop cancer of the prostate gland its the second most common cancer among men in the United States. There are several stages of prostate cancer the earliest, when the cancer is still limited to the prostate gland itself, is the easiest to treat.

    When the cancer has spread, or metastasized, beyond the prostate gland, its considered advanced, according to the American Cancer Society . When it spreads, its common for cancer cells to reach the bones first. Nine out of 10 men with advanced prostate cancer also have it in their bones.

    At this advanced stage, the cancer cant be cured, says Scott T. Tagawa, MD, a medical oncologist at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. But with treatment, many men can live a long time. There are men Ive been treating for advanced prostate cancer for 10 or 20 years.

    Arm yourself with the facts about what happens when prostate cancer spreads to the bones and what you can do to help manage it.

    Can Prostate Cancer Spread

    Prostate Cancer

    Medically Reviewed by: Dr. BautistaUpdated on: November 18, 2019

    Like other cancers, prostate cancer can spread if the cancer cells grow out of control. At ITC, we treat all different types of cancer and know that patients often have a lot of questions surrounding their diagnosis.

    We often are asked what is prostate cancer? Can prostate cancer spread? How is it diagnosed? And more. At Immunity Therapy Center, we know that each diagnosis is unique and every patient is different which is why we focus on a holistic approach to prostate cancer. And we believe that when patients have the knowledge, theyre more likely to take control of their health.

    To give you the knowledge to prepare, lets take a closer look at prostate cancer, what symptoms to look for, and how it can spread.

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