{"id":15665,"date":"2019-07-19T19:36:59","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T18:36:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/?p=15665"},"modified":"2021-04-21T13:36:43","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T12:36:43","slug":"prostate-cancer-are-you-in-the-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/19\/prostate-cancer-are-you-in-the-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Prostate cancer: Are you in the know?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-15598\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/prostate-cancer.png\" alt=\"Prostate cancer\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What is prostate\ncancer?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Prostate cancer<\/strong> is the most common cancer affecting men in the UK, with approximately 40,000 cases a year. It is a cancer of the cells in the prostate gland (the walnut-sized gland sitting behind the bladder) and is most commonly found in those over 65 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is different\nfrom many cancers as it can often only affect small areas of the prostate,\ncausing very few symptoms and not reducing life expectancy. There are, however,\nsome forms that are more aggressive and may require more extensive treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Causes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is no one clear <strong>cause of prostate cancer<\/strong>; it is likely to be linked to lots of different factors that increase its risk of developing, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Age<\/li><li>Family history <\/li><li>Ethnicity \u2013 more common in Afro-Caribbean men<\/li><li>Being overweight \u2013 also, a diet with high amounts of fat and low amounts of fruit and veg can increase the risk<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Symptoms<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because prostate cancer is often slow-growing, there may not be many symptoms. As it grows, it may eventually press on the urethra (the tube carrying your urine) and cause partial blockage to urine flow. If this happens, it may cause symptoms such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Increased frequency to urinate \u2013 you may need to pass urine more often than usual<\/li><li>Poor stream \u2013 it takes longer to empty your bladder, and the flow isn\u2019t as strong<\/li><li>Incomplete emptying \u2013 you have a feeling of not quite getting rid of all the urine. You may get a bit of urine dribbling out after you\u2019ve finished as well<\/li><li>Hesitancy \u2013 you feel like you\u2019re waiting at the toilet for longer than usual before the urine starts to flow<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It\nis important to note that a lot of these symptoms can occur in older men, and\nthey are more commonly caused by a non-cancerous growth of the prostate. There\nare some symptoms that don\u2019t occur with non-cancerous enlargement, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Passing blood in the urine<\/li><li>Pain in the base of the penis<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How is prostate cancer\ninvestigated?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your doctor\nsuspects prostate cancer, they can examine you and send you for some initial\ntests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The examination\nis done by inserting a gloved finger into the back passage (anus) to feel the\nprostate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A blood test can also be done to test for prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a chemical produced by cells of the prostate. If the levels are raised, there is a higher chance the prostate is enlarged. However, this test is NOT always accurate, as there are other conditions that cause the PSA test to be high. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If needed,\ndoctors may perform a biopsy. Here, a fine needle takes a small piece of the\nprostate, which is then examined under the microscope. This is done with the\nhelp of a special scanner. In many cases, a biopsy is not necessary and an MRI\nscan can be done instead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Screening\nof prostate cancer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Screening for\nprostate cancer is controversial. It is done using the PSA test, but this test\nmay not be accurate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is no national screening program at present like there is for breast cancer for example, but you can discuss with your GP if you would like a PSA test. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Stages\nof prostate cancer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If prostate\ncancer is confirmed, other tests may be needed to see if it has spread. These\ninclude CT scan, bone scans or abdominal scans. Using all this information, the\nstage of prostate cancer can be determined and graded using a tool called the\nGleason score. A score of 2 to 6 is low grade, and will most likely grow very\nslowly. A score of 7 is intermediate, and 8 to 10 is high grade, which could\nspread more quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Prostate cancer treatment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>treatment options for prostate cancer<\/strong> vary a great deal and depend on each person\u2019s specific cancer. Some of the strategies include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Active surveillance \u2013 watching and waiting<\/li><li>Surgery<\/li><li>Radiotherapy<\/li><li>Hormone treatment <ul><li>Drugs like goserelin and triptorelin stop your pituitary gland from producing hormones that stimulate the prostate<\/li><li>Flutamide and cyproterone are medicines that block testosterone<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Chemotherapy<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Some treatment\nwill just help symptoms, like painkillers and nutritional supplements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are some research and clinical trials about prostate cancer, with some new treatments being tested, but these are not available in all hospitals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Prostate\ncancer outlook (prognosis)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The prognosis\nof prostate cancer is very variable; some don\u2019t affect life expectancy at all,\nwhile others that have spread have a poorer outlook. Each person\u2019s response to\ntreatment is different as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a class=\"popmake-prostate-cancer\" href=\"#\">References<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"p1\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><span class=\"s1\">This article is for information only and should not be used for the diagnosis or treatment of medical conditions. myHealthSpecialist makes no representations as t<\/span><span class=\"s2\">o the accuracy or completeness of any of the information in this article or found by following any&nbsp;link from this article<\/span><span class=\"s1\">. Please consult a doctor or other healthcare professional for medical advice.<\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<hr>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-15534\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Picture-1.png\" alt=\"Anand Krishna\" width=\"125\" height=\"125\"><br>\nAnand Krishna<br>\n5<sup>th<\/sup> year medical student<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is prostate cancer? Prostate cancer is the most common cancer affecting men in the UK, with approximately 40,000 cases a year. It is a cancer of the cells in the prostate gland (the walnut-sized gland sitting behind the bladder) and is most commonly found in those over 65 years old. It is different from&hellip; <a class=\"continue\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/19\/prostate-cancer-are-you-in-the-know\/\">Continue Reading Prostate cancer: Are you in the know?<\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Prostate cancer: Are you in the know? - myHealth bytes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Prostate cancer is a cancer of the cells in the prostate gland (the walnut-sized gland sitting behind the bladder) and is most commonly found in those over 65 years old.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myhealthspecialist.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/19\/prostate-cancer-are-you-in-the-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Prostate cancer: Are you in the know? 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