prostate cancer
The prostate is a chestnut-shaped gland located between the rectum and the throat of the bladder. It extends to both sides of the urethra with two lobes that extend on either side of the urethra. The muscle tissue of the lobes allows you to regulate the flow of urine and stop it if necessary. The gland produces seminal fluid, the viscous fluid that carries semen during orgasm.
Experts estimate that 26,000 Canadian men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year, and another 250,000 are diagnosed in the United States. African-American men are more likely to be infected than any other ethnic group, Asians being the fewest. The reasons for this are unclear. However, regardless of ethnicity, all men over the age of 50 are at risk for the disease.
If you are a man over 50 or if you have any of the following symptoms, see your doctor and get tested. Symptoms can be a sign of prostate cancer or a different medical problem:
- Difficulty starting, stopping, or maintaining the flow of urine.
- The feeling that your bladder is not completely empty after urinating.
- Blood in urine or semen
- Pain during orgasm
- Pain or burning sensation when urinating
- Frequent urge to urinate
It is important to note that the early stages of prostate cancer generally do not present any symptoms, making screening and testing a must.
Coping with a prostate cancer diagnosis
If you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, you should talk to your doctor about your options. Cancer treatment research in recent decades has provided doctors with new treatments and therapies that, depending on the degree of cancer development, can completely cure prostate cancer.
When prostate cancer is in its early stages, it is limited only to the prostate gland. When cancer is in this stage, it gives you the best chance of completely defeating it. That is why it cannot be overstated; Get regular prostate cancer screenings after age 50. Ask your doctor if you are at increased risk and find out how often you should get screened.
What are my treatment options?
Traditional treatments such as surgery and radiation therapy are generally reserved for advanced prostate cancer, that is, cancer that has spread to the tissue around the prostate gland.
The surgery requires hospitalization and general anesthesia to undergo it. Your prostate is completely removed along with any other cancerous tissue that is found. Typical side effects are impotence and urinary incontinence. Recovery takes weeks, and the surgery itself has risks.
Radiation therapy takes place for about 5 weeks and requires you to attend a clinic for 5 consecutive days a week. A radioactive source is focused on your pelvic area, and cancer cells are burned. Typical side effects are impotence and burning holes through the rectal walls adjacent to the prostate gland.
HIFU is short for High Intensity Focused Ultrasound. This treatment uses focused sound waves to heat and kill cancer cells using a probe that is inserted into the rectum until it is adjacent to the prostate. This procedure is non-invasive and is effective in eradicating cancer cells from the prostate. When not all cancer cells have been killed, it can be repeated. It can also be used as a “cleansing” procedure to eradicate cancer cells that are not detected by surgery or other means.
Side effects have been shown to be minimal with a 93% cure rate when cancer is found in its early stages. There is also little downtime as the procedure takes 2-3 hours and is done on an outpatient basis. It is only done in men with prostate cancer limited to one organ.
You can survive prostate cancer, but early detection is key.
