Prostate Cancer Stage

RemwesMedical — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:17:22 +0000

One of the most important factors in the care and treatment of any form of cancer, is to know how much of the cancer is present at the time when the cancer is first discovered. The way that doctors are able to know and communicate with each other about much cancer is present at the time of the initial discovery is with something called a stage.
The stages of Prostate Cancer, simply put, are a measure of how much Prostate Cancer is present when we first find it.
Thankfully, with today’s measures, which include regular yearly check ups with a digital rectal exam (which is abbreviated as a DRE) and the measuring of a blood test known as a PSA level, MOST prostate cancers are now found in the early stages.
As with other cancers, we are used to hearing things such as “stage I” or “Stage II” etc when it comes to cancer. Indeed, Prostate Cancer is no different. It also has been classified into number stages with the lowest numbers indicating the least amount of cancer found at the time of the initial diagnosis and the highest numbers indicating the most amount of cancer found at the time of the initial diagnosis.
The difference with Prostate Cancer, however, is that the staging system can be a little complicated. It is not only divided into stages I, II, III and IV; it is further subdivided into T1a, T1b, T2b, etc. As such, the staging numbers and letters used for Prostate Cancer are not that intuitive and/or clear. They certainly are not easy to immediately memorize.
As such, for this Cancer In Plain English posting, we will simply state that early stage Prostate Cancer is Prostate Cancer that is in the stages more or less I and/or II and the cancer is primarily located in the Prostate at that time.
The more advanced stages of Prostate Cancer are stages III and IV and these are cancers that occur in men who have more or less not recognized the symptoms they were experiencing or ignored the symptoms. Typically Prostate Cancer does not have any symptoms when it is early along, except frequency with urination or getting up in the middle of the night to urinate; however, the most powerful and significant symptom in Prostate Cancer is back pain that will not go away. This symptom is so important because it indicates that the Prostate Cancer has grown in the prostate and has now spread to the lower back and is causing destruction and pain in the lower back.
When men go for regular check ups and measurements of PSA blood levels regularly, Prostate Cancer is found well before it has had a chance to grow, spread to the bones of the back and cause pain back there. If, on the other hand, men do not go for yearly check ups and do not have yearly measurement of blood PSA levels and, worse yet, ignore that bothersome back pain that seems to not go away, then they may be putting themselves at risk for finding Prostate Cancer only after it is much more advanced and, by that time, incurable.
All of these and many more concepts about Prostate Cancer can be found and are explained in very easy to understand language in the Prostate Cancer audio CD available on the web site known as the web site www.CancerInPlainEnglish.com

Prostate Cancer Treatment

RemwesMedical — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:57:52 +0000

The treatment of Prostate Cancer is dependent on various factors. Prostate Cancer can be a very slow growing tumor in some men and a rapidly growing tumor in other men. The key in deciding therapy for Prostate Cancer is the STAGE at which the tumor is discovered initially. These days, with increasing numbers of men seeing their doctors and having digital rectal exams (DREs) and PSA blood test levels, the most frequently found stage of Prostate Cancer is an initial or early stage. It is a stage where the Prostate Cancer is localized to the Prostate gland itself and has not yet spread outside of the gland. The American Urologic Association has actually accepted that three possible approaches are acceptable for Prostate Cancer that is confined to the Prostate Gland. These three treatment possibilities are: 1) Watchful waiting 2) Surgery or 3) Radiation therapy.
1) Watchful waiting. This option for therapy is possible in older men who have what is known as “Good Risk” disease. This is Prostate Cancer that has features and characteristics which suggest that it is not a very aggressive tumor.
2) Surgery. Surgery for Prostate Cancer is usually in the form of a Radical Prostatectomy. The key in making the decision for or against surgery is the preference of the patient and the characteristics of the tumor. An important key to remember is that hormonal therapy following surgery is not felt to add any added benefit to the patient, whereas hormonal thertapy after radiation therapy (as we will see below) is indeed felt to add to the benefit for the patients.
3) Radiation Therapy. Lastly, a person with Prostate Cancer that is as yet localized to the Prostate Gland and has not spread outside of the gland may choose to treat the tumor with Radiation therapy. There are more bowel (intestine) complications following radiation therapy than following surgery. This, therefore is an important consideration for the patient when making the decision between surgery or radiation therapy. We need to keep in mind that both, radiation therapy and surgery are felt to be equal for Prostate Cancer that is limited to the prostate gland. As mentioned above, an important key to remember is that hormonal therapy is felt to add a benefit when given to patients with Prostate Cancer following radiation therapy, but is not felt to add to the benefit of the patient when it is given following surgical treatment of Prostate Cancer. All of these concepts and more are available on the Prostate Cancer audio Cd available on www.CancerInPlainEnglish.com

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Prostate Cancer Stage

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