Basic Facts About Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is an unusual growth of cells in a man's prostate gland that many older men in the St. Louis area are afflicted with. The prostate rests just below the bladder. It produces a portion of the liquid for semen. In young men, the prostate is about the size of a walnut. As men age, the prostate generally grows larger.

Prostate cancer is normal in men older than 65. It normally grows slowly and can take many years to grow big enough to bring about any problems. As with other cancers, treatment for prostate cancer works best when the cancer can be found early. Often, prostate cancer which has spread responds to treatment. Older men who've prostate cancer typically die from other causes.

Experts do not know what causes prostate cancer, but they believe that your age, family history (genetics), and ethnicity determine your chances of getting it. What you eat, such as foods loaded with fats, can also play a role.

Prostate cancer normally does not lead to symptoms in its early stages. Most men do not know they've got it until it's found during a regular medical exam.

When problems are noticed, they are most often problems urinating. But these same symptoms can also be attributed to an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia). An enlarged prostate is common in older men who live in St. Louis, Creve Couer, Florissant, and Kirkwood, Missouri.

See your physician for a checkup if:
•   You have urinary problems, such as:
      o   Not being able to urinate at all.
      o   Having difficulty starting or halting the flow of urine.
      o   Having to urinate many times, particularly at night.
      o   Having pain or burning during the course of urination.
•   You have difficulties having an erection.
•   You have blood in your urine or semen.
•   You have deep and recurring pain in your lower back, stomach, hip, or pelvis.

The most common way to test for prostate cancer is to have a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test. An increased level of PSA could mean that you've got prostate cancer. But it could also mean that you've got an enlargement or infection of the prostate.

If your PSA is high, you might need a prostate biopsy to figure out the cause. A biopsy means that your physician takes tissue samples from your prostate gland and sends them to a lab for evaluation. Your treatment depends on what sort of cancer cells you've got, how far they have spread, your age and general health, and your preferences.

You and your doctor might choose to treat your cancer with surgery, radiation, hormone therapy, or a combination. Or if you have cancer that's low-risk and has not spread (early stage), you might be able to wait and watch with active monitoring to discover what happens. Throughout active surveillance, you will have regular checkups with your doctor to see if your cancer has changed.

Choosing treatment for prostate cancer can be complicated. Speak with a medical professional like those at Metropolitan Urological Specialists to determine the treatment that is right for you.

Your age and general health will make a big difference in how treatment may affect your quality of life. Any health issues you've got before you are treated, specifically urinary, bowel, or sexual function problems, will determine how you recover.

Both surgery and radiation may cause urinary incontinence (leaking urine) or impotence (being unable to have an erection). The level of urinary incontinence and the length of time it lasts and the quality of the erections a man has following procedures will depend on whether or not the tumor has spread. These also depend upon what treatment solutions are utilized.

Nerves that help a man have an erection are right next to the prostate. Surgery to remove the cancer could damage these nerves. Many times a special type of surgery, known as nerve-sparing surgery, can preserve the nerves. But if the cancer has spread to the nerves, they may need to be taken out during surgery. These same nerves can also be damaged by the X-rays that are used in radiation therapy.

Medicines and mechanical aids may help men who're impotent as a result of treatment. Some men recover a portion or a majority of their capability to have an erection months or even years after surgery.

If you live in St. Louis, Washington, Creve Couer, Crestwood, or Chesterfield, Missouri and you believe that you may be experiencing any of the symptoms of prostate cancer, contact Metropolitan Urological Specialists today and schedule an appointment.