What is Prostate Cancer?
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Prostate cancer only affects men. It starts as a cancerous cell in or around the walnut-shaped prostate gland positioned below the urinary bladder and just in front of the rectum, adjacent to the urethra. The prostate’s main task is to create the seminal fluid needed by the sperm to produce the semen that is ejaculated through the act of sex. The gland is cardinal to every man, develops before birth, and expands as the man becomes older by the aid of androgen. For some, the prostate continues to expand in size creating a condition referred to as Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), which applies pressure on the urethra causing difficulty during urination. BPH is not a type of cancer and should not be a cause of alarm.
Canadian men are more susceptible to prostate cancer, which normally grows at a snail’s pace. Besides prostate cancer, there are other forms of cancer that take place in the prostate gland including small cell carcinomas, sarcomas, and transitional cell carcinomas, although their occurrence is very rare. Prostate cancer grows and spreads very slowly. This was proven by a study which suggested that older men who died because of other health complications were also suffering from undiagnosed prostate cancer. Moreover, the study also proved that 70% to 90% of men suffer from prostate cancer by the time they reach 80 years old, but many doctors fail to discover it.
|
Most doctors believe prostate cancer starts with a pre-cancerous state known as Prostatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia (PIN). Most men in their 20’s begin to develop PIN and by the time they reach 50 the problem is full blown. The prostate will appear abnormal under the microscope and be classified as a low-grade or high grade change. A low grade change is a normal condition while a high grade change is abnormal. Once a biopsy is performed and a high grade PIN is indicated, there is a high probability that prostate cancer may form or exists. Most doctors will ask the patient to undergo repeated biopsies.
Studies also point to a condition known as Atypical Small Acinar Proliferation, known as Atypia or ASAP, as another cause of cancer. Under a microscope the cells look cancerous although their numbers are too small to be certain. There is a 40% to 50% chance of prostate cancer when ASAP is present. Doctors will also direct the patient to obtain a repeat biopsy after a few months.
Copyright 2008 - Battle Prostate Cancer
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Prostate cancer is a horrible disease and I’m saddened to see so many men dying (relatively) young of this disease. It’s even more sad that it can be prevented with a simple (yet embarassing) procedure.
Why are Canadian men more susceptible to prostate cancer? Does it have to do with the weather or environment?
The percentage of men with the disease really is shocking, I never knew it was so high. I get a prostate exam every 6 months or so to be sure, I certainly wouldn’t want to burden my family with this due to my latent response to such a common disease.
I have heard PIN starts developing as soon as your early twenties. This disease should not be taken lightly.. get a scheduled check up at least every 6 months!
I tell my husband to regularly get prostate exam, unfortunately, he’s one of those who think it will never happen to them. He will certainly change his mind once I show him the statistics