The prostate and prostate cancer: causes and risks, diagnosis and grading, treatment and its side effects, and how patients and caregivers cope.
42 HealthJournals
Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test is a blood test that checks the level of PSA in the blood. PSA is a protein made by the prostate gland. The amount of PSA may be higher in men who have prostate cancer, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or infection or inflammation of the prostate.
It’s never easy to receive a cancer diagnosis, but for these men, they might not ever have to do anything about it. Watchful waiting can be a solid strategy for the right type of patient, but who qualifies for such an approach?
The prostate is a small gland in men that helps make semen. Located just below the bladder in front of the rectum, it wraps around the tube that carries urine and semen out of the body. Learn more about the structure and function of the prostate.
Prostate cancer is a disease in which cancer cells form in the tissues of the prostate. It is the most common cancer among men and the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths among American men. The risk goes up as men age. Learn about symptoms, tests, and treatment.
Prostate cancer, like other cancers, starts with changes in the genes that control how cells grow and divide. Some of those changes are inherited and others build up over a lifetime, and substances in the environment can play a part in cancer risk.
A small percentage of prostate cancers are hereditary and occur in families. Inherited variants in particular genes, such as BRCA1, BRCA2, and HOXB13, account for some cases of hereditary prostate cancer. Dozens of other genes have been studied as possible risk factors for prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men in the U.S. Avoiding risk factors, such as smoking, being overweight, and not getting enough exercise, and increasing protective factors, such as having a healthy lifestyle may help prevent cancer. Learn more about risk and protective factors for prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer screening looks for cancer before there are symptoms, most often with a PSA blood test, and it has both benefits and harms. Prostate tests, from the digital rectal exam to imaging and a prostate biopsy, help diagnose prostate cancer and other prostate problems.
Cancer grading is a system for classifying cancer cells in terms of how abnormal they appear when examined under a microscope. Learn more about tumor grade and its role in cancer prognosis.
Most prostate cancers need male hormones to grow, so hormone therapy, which lowers or blocks them, is a mainstay of treatment for advanced prostate cancer. Brachytherapy, radiation from small seeds placed in or near the prostate, treats the cancer from inside the body.
Prostate cancer treatment side effects happen when treatment affects healthy tissues and organs, and they differ from person to person and from one treatment to another. Common ones include fatigue, pain, nausea and vomiting, and complementary health approaches have been studied for easing some of them.
You may have just learned that you have cancer. Or you may be in treatment, finishing treatment, or have a friend or family member with cancer. Having cancer changes your life and the lives of those around you. Learn how to find support and cope with your emotions during this challenging time.
Prostate cancer disparities are differences in who gets prostate cancer and how they fare. African American men are more likely to develop prostate cancer and to die of it than men of other groups, and cancer disparities more broadly stem from factors such as access to care and income.
Find what's new in prostate cancer research, including current progress in improving biopsies and imaging for diagnosis, and in treating prostate cancer with hormone therapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy.
Clinician summaries of prostate cancer, written for health professionals. They cover prostate cancer screening and prevention, its treatment and the genetics of prostate cancer, including the inherited gene variants that raise a man's risk.
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