Introduction
As the mankind is progressing in science, many new discoveries are made almost in every field of study. Over the years medical science has been blessed with many such discoveries and prostate cancer is one of them. Men above the age of 50 are affected by many diseases and prostate cancer is one of them.
History
Urinatory system is an important part of the human body and prostate cancer is one of the many diseases that affect this part. Disturbing the whole cycle of the human body this cancer can lead to many other complications.
Features
There are no apparent symptoms to prostate cancer in the early stages but as the tumor grows it tighten the urethra and cause problems in the urinary functions, such as difficulty in controlling urine discharge or pain while the discharge. The urination rate may increase and even after urination you might have the feeling that your bladder is full. Some uncommon symptoms may also appear; such as blood in the urine or semen, ejaculation becomes very painful these symptoms mostly occur in the later stages when the cancer has developed into an advanced stage. And prostate cancer may not reflect any symptoms in most of the cases but with regular screening it can be easily detected. Like all other types of cancer early detection and treatment is the key to complete cure and recovery. There are various types of treatments and depending upon various factors your doctor may prescribe you one or make a combination of several treatments. The first one is known as watchful waiting, which is the regular monitoring of your cancer to determine whether it’s becoming worse and at what pace is it developing. This type of treatment is mostly given to men whose cancer is thought to grow slowly. Other candidates of this treatment include older men, who cannot undergo surgery due to the other medical problems they might have. This treatment requires regular checkups that include digital rectal exams, PSA tests and even biopsies. Radiation therapies are also an option, one way is the external beam radiation therapy which targets a beam of radiation onto the cancer affected area. The other way is the brachy therapy, also known as the implanted radiation. In this therapy a radioactive capsule is planted accurately inside the prostate with the aid of CT or MRI imaging. Once in position the capsule will release radiation for a limited time to the surrounding cancer cells. The benefit of this type of radiation therapy is that it minimizes the area that gets damaged by the radiation effect, as it focuses on to a small area as compared to the external beam method. Hormonal therapy is another type of cure available to prostate cancer patients, it focuses on reducing the level of testosterone or to stop its functions as they stimulate the prostate cancer. In the initial stage the treatment seems quite effective but cancer may devolp later on as it’s not a complete cure towards the disease. Radical prostatectomy is a surgery often prescribed to prostate cancer patients whose cancer has not spread out of the prostate capsule. The operation removes the complete prostate and the bladder is connected to urethra to allow urination. The last treatment is the chemotherapy, though the new chemotherapy medicines tend to prove prolong the patient’s life but the treatment itself has its significant amount of side effects that may result in abandoning of a normal life.
Tips and comments
Like other types of cancer and prostate cancer itself is curable, if diagnosed at the right time. Men above the age of 50 years should have their regular screening done by a recognized urologist. And if you happen to have a family history of prostate cancer then a earlier start is all what you need to counter this disease.
