Prostate Cancer
From Encyclopedia of Sex and Sexuality
Cancer of the prostate is the most common cancer affecting men. Approximately 10 percent of all men develop prostate cancer during their lifetime. While advanced prostate cancer may diminish urinary flow and sexual function, unfortunately there are no symptoms in its early and curable stages.
Prostate cancer is usually a slow-growing tumor that arises within the prostate gland. It is more common in men who have had a brother, father, or son affected by prostate cancer. It is also more common in African-American men and men from societies with a diet high in fats, such as the United States.
Early and potentially curable prostate cancer can be detected with a digital (finger) rectal examination or a blood test referred to as PSA (prostate specific antigen). The PSA blood test detects a protein made in the prostate gland and normally secreted out of the body in seminal fluid. When PSA “leaks” into the blood stream, it signals an abnormal condition, such as a benign growth, infection, or cancer, but does not specifically indicate the presence of cancer. The discovery of a nodule during a rectal examination of the prostate or elevated PSA levels in the blood may lead a urologist to perform a biopsy of the prostate. It is only with a biopsy that the presence of prostate cancer can be confirmed. If prostate cancer is present, additional tests are needed to evaluate the extent, if any, of its spread. If the cancer has not spread beyond the prostate gland, surgical removal or radiation may cure the patient. To maximize the potential for a cure, a digital examination and PSA test should be done during routine health maintenance examinations, before symptoms begin.
Pain from the spread of prostate cancer to the bones or the obstruction of urinary flow from prostate cancer may be treated with male hormones. This may be achieved by surgical castration or medications. This type of hormonal treatment often results in a decrease in libido, or sexual drive, and may also result in difficulties in having erections.
Since prostate cancer can be a slow-growing disease and it often affects very elderly men, its progression may take six to ten years or more to be fatal for patients diagnosed too late for cure. Therefore, not all men who have prostate cancer require aggressive treatment. New approaches to the surgical treatment of prostate cancer have allowed for good cure rates, with the preservation of normal sexual and urinary function in most men. Each year medical research brings new potential for more effective treatment of even advanced prostate cancer.
