The Early Warning Signs of Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the second most prevalent cancer in males, affecting one in three men over the age of 50. Unlike other types of cancers, prostate cancer is less aggressive and less lethal, with survival rates of about 98 percent among patients carrying the disease for up to five years. Learn more about the risk of prostate cancer by searching online.

Prostate cancer can progress for several years without showing any significant signs. However, it can become quite dangerous when it develops into an advanced stage – where survival rates drop to 30 percent. If you’re concerned about your risk, read on to learn more of the critical facts.

Causes and Risk Factors

Unlike most other cancers, very little is known about prostate cancer in the medical world. Researchers have long suspected a number of factors, but it’s still unclear how these factors or others yet unknown contribute to the development and spread of the disease.

Some of the suspected risk factors include:

• Age – Prostate cancer rarely affects men under the age of 40
• Ethnicity – African American men are the most vulnerable demographic
• Family history – A family history of prostate cancer increases the risk for an individual by two to three times
• Smoking – Smokers have double the risk of developing prostate cancer
• Diet – Certain eating habits can increase your risk

While it may be impossible to completely avoid these risk factors, you can significantly reduce your chance of prostate cancer with a healthy lifestyle. Stick to in a heart-friendly diet to enhance your health, watch your weight, avoid smoking and exercise regularly.

Signs and Symptoms

One of the most disturbing things about prostate cancer is that it often doesn’t cause any noticeable symptoms in the early stages. Additionally, when noticeable symptoms emerge in the advanced stages, they can be easily confused with other illnesses like an enlarged prostate or urinary disorders. Therefore, it’s imperative to report any symptoms to your doctor as soon as possible

Common symptoms include:

• Urination issues like frequent urination, constricted urination, pain or burning during urination
• Painful ejaculation
• Discomfort or mild pain in the pelvic area
• Erectile dysfunction
• Blood in urine or semen
• Weight loss and loss of appetite

After examining your medical history and the degree of these symptoms, your doctor may recommend a full prostate cancer test to identify and track the presence of any tumors.

Stages of Prostate Cancer

After diagnosing the cancer, your doctor will categorize the case into one of four stages, depending on the level of advancement.

These include:

Stage 1: The cancer is just beginning to form on one side of the prostate and hasn’t yet spread beyond it.

Stage 2: The cancer is still confined to the prostate, hasn’t yet spread to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body. In this stage, it may grow to a size where it can be captured on ultrasound imaging.

Stage 3: The cancer becomes quite sizeable and may spread from the prostate

Stage 4: The cancer has spread throughout the body

Treatment Options

Each stage requires different methods of treatment. Depending on the size, location and reach of the prostate cancer, your doctor will recommend one or a combination of multiple treatments to combat it.

The treatment methods for specific stages are:

• Stage I – Radiation therapy, surgical prostate removal, and hormone therapy.
• Stage II – Radiation therapy, hormone therapy, and surgery if the cancer spreads to your lymph nodes.
• Stage III – Radiation therapy and hormone therapy.
• Stage IV – The cancer may be mitigated but is not curable. Quality of life may be increased with treatments like hormone therapy, chemotherapy, radiation. and clinical trials.

Treatment may vary depending on the patient and your doctor will discuss what the best course is for a given case. If you experience any of the above signs of prostate cancer, seek medical advice and treatment as soon as possible. Be alert to any changes in your body, stay on top of your health and get regular physicals from a medical professional.