Early detection, constant communication key in dealing with prostate cancers

When a company of doctors diagnosed former President Joe Biden with an aggressive form of prostate cancer last month it cast the most of commonly occurring cancer among men into the national spotlight But for as common as it is there remain questions even confusion about all prostate cancer entails borderline disagreement surrounding how it should be diagnosed and the processes by which it is treated President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris arrive for the inauguration of Donald Trump as the th president of the United States takes place inside the Capitol Rotunda of the U S Capitol building in Washington D C Monday Jan Kenny Holston Getty Images North America TNS Or in perhaps a surprising amount of cases the reasons it isn t I think a real disservice speaking as an oncologist when we label prostate cancer is it s a little confusing noted Dr Christopher Peters the clinical director of Northeast Radiation Oncology Centers in Dunmore Lackawanna County and a board of directors member at the Northeast Regional Cancer Institute in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre Low-grade low-risk prostate cancer acts very very differently than high-risk high-grade prostate cancer But they re all called prostate cancer This is a difficulty because specific people s prostate cancers are very aggressive they may cause mortality and morbidity such as bone metastasis which may be painful and may cause the individual s death There are also other prostate cancers that are low-grade that we may be able to diagnose and watch for multiple years without any rehabilitation And then there s everything in between The trick for men and their doctors is discovering where they land on that spectrum What is prostate cancer By definition prostate cancer is a development of cells that starts in the prostate a walnut-sized gland that is part of the male reproductive system and located just below the bladder By the statistics it can be considered quite a bit more intimidating According to the American Cancer Society nearly new cases of prostate cancers are estimated to be diagnosed in It also estimates prostate cancer-related deaths will top this year Since the incidence rate for diagnoses has increased by per year About one in eight American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and ultimately it will kill one in That revealed those numbers tell more of a story about how common the cancer is than how fatal it can be More than million men living currently in the United States were at one point in their lives diagnosed with a form of prostate cancer several of which are highly treatable and even curable when detected early President Joe Biden speaks to union workers at the Carpenters Local Union in Scranton on Saturday Nov Christopher Dolan Staff Photographer What are the reactions As far as features unfortunately with prostate cancer there usually are none commented Dr Angelo Baccala deputy physician in chief innovation and plan advance Institute for Surgical Excellence and chief of the division of urology at Lehigh Valley Medical Configuration part of Jefferson Wellbeing That s why oncologists and urologists agree it s key for men to understand their own personal jeopardy factors Those risks vary based on several things like age race and ethnicity and especially family history The hazard is also statistically higher for men of African ancestry than it is for men of other races So for men between the ages of and and even a meager years earlier for those with extreme jeopardy factors who find themselves in those categories awareness of feasible warning signs for prostate cancers remains key While it tends not to show any signs in its early forms and can be relatively slow-growing compared to other forms of cancer men may notice at least one of the following as early stage prostate cancer progresses Blood in the urine or semen A weak urine flow or one that stops and starts Pain or burning while urinating The need to urinate more often and waking up during the night more often to do so Difficulty getting started while trying to urinate Advancing stages can come with other signs as well including pain in the back or bones loss of bladder or bowel control unintended weight loss extreme fatigue and erectile dysfunction Of subject doctors point out that various of those conditions are symptomatic of maladies not related to prostate cancer but a general rule is encouraged among those in the age group and with the peril factors who are concerned by changes in how they feel Call your practitioner or another vitality care professional if there are any characteristics that concern you FILE Former President Joe Biden speaks at a conference in Chicago April AP Photo Nam Y Huh File How is it diagnosed Just about every process when it comes to diagnosing foreseen prostate cancer issues starts with a basic prostate exam one that can be done by a primary care practitioner a urologist or any other physician Basically what they do is look at the size of the prostate and see if the prostate is big or not commented Dr Ahmad Hanif the division chief of hematology oncology at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Biological Center in Wilkes-Barre Even if the prostate is discovered to be bigger than normal it doesn t mean that it is cancer But it would mean that further workup is needed especially if you re having indicators The main method by which prostate cancers are screened remains the prostate-specific antigen PSA blood test When detected early prostate cancer is highly survivable Upward of live five years or more if the cancer is detected while still localized to the prostate or has not spread beyond nearby structures or lymph nodes according to the American Cancer Society Baccala points out that number drops to if the case s cancer is advanced or metastatic stressing the importance of consistent PSA screenings Catching it early is really key and it s easy he announced It s a blood test at an exam It takes all of three seconds to do and you re getting blood drawn by your primary care medical practitioner anyway so it should be included Baccala commented screening should be recommended up to age with various going a inadequate years beyond if there is any concern on up-to-date PSA results Understanding the results If the test reveals higher levels of the antigen in the bloodstream it is an indicator of a expected cancer presence However increased PSA levels are not uncommon in older men and they also could be a sign of noncancerous diseases or even other factors that could raise the levels The question doctors face is whether benefits to consistent screening outweigh feasible risks Ordering the test is not a concern Cost of the test is not a difficulty It s the understanding of the test that is the issue Hanif stated The longer PSA screening recommendations put in place in the early s have been followed the number of advanced prostate cancer cases that have been diagnosed have decreased That Hanif added is plenty of evidence that screening works However it can be a double-edged sword if patients walk into a PSA screening without the full knowledge of what the results could mean High results on the test don t necessarily mean the type of cancer demands to be treated right away if ever given how slowly the cancer can grow There s also a chance that a high test outcome doesn t development in a positive test for cancer As long as there is a discussion between you and your practitioner regarding what a high PSA means and someone can be secure living with the fact that they have prostate cancer and a specialist isn t doing anything about it then yes a PSA should be ordered and is a great screening tool Hanif reported It has been shown to reduce the number of advanced cases being detected so prostate cancer in the early stages can be detected But there has to be a discussion What are the treatments Research has led to a boon over the last years both in prostate cancer treatments and options it can be managed Peters stated that in addition to testing for PSA doctors now have multiparametric MRIs that can noninvasively more effectively detect aggressive tumors in the prostate that are more likely to need a biopsy There is also a Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen that can determine if a cancer has spread or returned after recovery We do a lot better in treating prostate cancer in men on average Peters commented And that s the key here On average men live longer with prostate cancer There are also potentially curative treatments for more localized less-advanced prostate cancers that can be handled with surgery or through radiation treatments like ones Peters specializes in at NROC Hanif disclosed that for less aggressive forms of prostate cancer living with it can be much more simple A insufficient visits to the oncologist every year exclusively to make sure there aren t drastic changes that need more immediate attention More than anything the key to beating prostate cancer is detecting it early And the key to detecting it early is honest open conversation between men and their doctors about what strategies make the the greater part sense for their individual lifestyle If I had a take-home conversation on this it would be discuss matters with your medical practitioner Peters noted Ask your physician who you trust What are the pros and cons for me with prostate cancer screening not on a population-based level but on an individualized level Of program as an oncologist I recommend particular screening because my goal is to keep people out of my office right We want to keep people not having prostate cancer or having it detected at the earliest feasible stage so we can have a shared decision-making conversation as far as what do we do with this prostate cancer from here