2010 | prostate cancer questions and answers

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

prostate cancer questions and answers

prostate cancer questions and answers

Welcome to ourBlog — your comprehensive prostate cancer questions and answers resource. Our mission is to give you the facts you need about prostate cancer questions and answers — fast — so you can get on the road to taking action right away`.

This site provides a ton of information about prostate cancer questions and answers. In addition, you will find extensive information on leading prostate cancer questions and answers to help you on your way to success.

Please have a look at our prostate cancer questions and answers articles, products, resources, and additional information located throughout this blog.

We strive to provide only quality articles, so if there is a specific topic related to prostate cancer questions and answers that you would like us to cover, please contact us at any time.

And again, thank you to those contributing daily to our prostate cancer questions and answers website.

prostate cancer questions and answers

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Introduction to Prostate cancer questions and answers blog

Prostate cancer questions and answers is a new blog with information and resources for those needing to know about urological problems and treatments.

Prostate cancer questions and answers will have unprecedented animations, video of the prostate in 3D and comparative pictures and videos of standard, aged, diseased, and repaired organs so that everyone will be able to clearly understand the medical jargon that patients are suddenly introduced to.

Our blog will have questions and answers from doctors, patients, technologists, family members, medical companies, research clinicians, nurses and medical team personnel.

The Prostate cancer questions and answers blog will keep bringing the newest medical research, clinical trials, and science and engineering breakthroughs along with information on the newest drugs along with how you can help as a volunteer, benefactor, or joining your local foundations.

We hope you gain insight from our new urology online resource. You can always come and learn or share your knowledge and experiences so that we all may experience a very healthy, active, long and happy life.

Prostate cancer questions and answers

Monday, February 1, 2010

List of prostate cancer questions and answers

prostate cancer questions and answers

This list of prostate cancer questions and answers makes it easy for you to quickly understand the disease and find key topics you want to learn more about on our site.

Prostate cancer questions and answers: the prostate gland

What is the prostate gland?
The prostate gland (which is no bigger than the size of a walnut) creates part of the fluid that makes up semen. It is not a vital organ, and men can live the rest of their lives safely without it.

Where is the prostate gland located?
The prostate gland is located deep within the pelvis, between the rectum and the bladder. It surrounds the upper part of the urethra, the tube that allows urine to flow from the bladder and through the penis. It is surrounded by major arteries, veins, and sphincters that facilitate urinary control. It is also surrounded by tiny, delicate nerves called neurovascular or “nerve bundles.”

Prostate cancer questions and answers: the disease

What is prostate cancer?
Prostate cancer results when abnormal cells in a man’s body start to grow out of control. It is a cancer that only affects men.

How common is it?
It is estimated that 192,280 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009.

Prostate cancer questions and answers: causes & symptoms

What causes it?
No one knows the exact causes of prostate cancer, or why some types are more aggressive than others. It is believed that damage or mutations to DNA cause normal prostate cells to become cancerous cells. Age, family history, race, hormones, ethnicity, diet and environment also may all play a role.

What are the symptoms?
Most men do not have any physical symptoms with early prostate cancer. As prostate cancer advances, some men may need to urinate more often, or may find their ability to urinate is slowed or weakened. Other symptoms can include painful irritation, blood in the urine or sexual problems (such as difficulty getting an erection), blood in semen, and pain in the back, hips, and ribs.

Prostate cancer questions and answers: diagnosis

What is a PSA test?
Prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, is a protein that the prostate gland produces. A PSA test is a simple test that measures the amount of prostate-specific antigen a man has in his blood. When the prostate gland is healthy, usually very little PSA escapes through the wall of the gland into the blood.

What is a prostate exam?
A prostate exam typically includes a digital rectal exam (DRE), which allows the doctor to physically feel the prostate gland to determine if it is enlarged, abnormally hard, or if there are any lumps or other irregularities.

How is prostate cancer diagnosed?
Prostate cancer diagnosis is commonly confirmed by a procedure called a transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy. It is a procedure that is generally done in the doctor’s office.

Prostate cancer questions and answers: grading & staging

What is a Gleason score?
The Gleason score helps determine how quickly a tumor may grow or spread. The numbers 1 to 5 are used. A number is assigned to two of the areas of the prostate that have the most cancer. Once those two numbers are determined, they are added together to come up with the Gleason score, which ranges from 2 to 10.

What is staging?
Prostate cancer staging is based on the results of all of your loved one’s tests, physical exams, and biopsy. The TNM staging system is the most commonly used system for determining prostate cancer stages.

What is advanced prostate cancer?
Advanced prostate cancer means that the cancer has moved beyond the prostate gland. It is not localized cancer (cancer that is only confined to the prostate gland). It may further be defined as locally advanced, regionally advanced, or metastatic cancer.

Prostate cancer questions and answers: choosing treatment

How do you decide on a treatment?
There are many factors that will help determine the course of treatment, including the stage of the cancer and the Gleason score. This is explained in simple terms in the section of this web site titled

Prostate cancer questions and answers: prostate cancer surgery

What is radical retropubic prostatectomy?
During radical retropubic prostatectomy, an incision is made from just below the man’s bellybutton to the top of the pubic bone (retropubic means behind the pubic bone). This surgery for prostate cancer gives the surgeon easy access to the lymph nodes, nerves, and blood vessels. Lymph nodes can be removed and examined, if it is suspected that the cancer has spread.

What is radical perineal prostatectomy?
Radical perineal prostatectomy is generally presented as an option for men who cannot undergo retropubic surgery due to other medical problems, or if the surgeon believes there is little chance that the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes.

What is laparoscopic radical prostatectomy?
During this type of surgery, several long instruments, including a thin lighted tube with a small video camera to guide prostate removal, are inserted into the body through small incisions.

What is robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy?
During robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, a laparoscopic radical prostatectomy is performed using a robotic device (a machine with robotic arms that is known as the da Vinci surgical system), that is controlled by a surgeon in the operating room.

Prostate cancer questions and answers: other treatments

What is radiation therapy?
There are two main types. One involves external radiation (often called external beam radiation therapy). The other involves internal radiation (called brachytherapy), which is also referred to as seed implantation or interstitial radiation therapy.

What is hormone therapy?
The main purpose of hormone therapy for prostate cancer is to either lower the amount of hormones that are produced in a man’s body, or stop the cancer cells from using these hormones. That’s why it is sometimes referred to as “androgen deprivation therapy” or “androgen suppression” therapy.

Is chemotherapy ever used?
Chemotherapy may be used when prostate cancer has spread beyond the prostate gland, and hormone therapies have failed to control it. With prostate cancer chemotherapy may also be used to treat pain caused by cancer that has spread to the bone.

What is cryosurgery?
Cryosurgery is a more recent procedure that uses gases (such as liquid nitrogen) to freeze and destroy the cancer. It is also commonly referred to as cryotherapy or cryoablation.

What is watchful waiting?
Watchful waiting, which is also called “expectant management” or “active surveillance,” is when your loved one’s doctor doesn’t start any treatment, but carefully monitors the growth of the cancer.

What is alternative treatment?
Alternative prostate cancer treatment is generally described as nontraditional treatment that some men may choose in the hope of curing their prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer questions and answers: impotence

What is impotence?
Impotence is the inability for a man to get or maintain an erection for intercourse. This side effect can occur with many treatments for prostate cancer.

Are there other factors that contribute to impotence?
Other factors can contribute to impotence, such as the age of your loved one, and whether he had any urinary or erectile problems before treatment.

Prostate cancer questions and answers: impotence treatments

What is penile rehabilitation?
Penile rehabilitation involves the regular use of either penile injections, oral erectile dysfunction (ED) medication, urethral pellets, or vacuum pump devices. Some physicians even suggest that men should masturbate to increase blood flow, but this form of penile rehabilitation has not been studied.

How do erectile dysfunction drugs work?
Erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs work by helping increase blood flow to the penis. However, these drugs will not help if both nerve bundles have been surgically removed, or suffered damage during treatment.

What are vacuum pump devices?
Vacuum pump devices (or vacuum constriction devices) are a non-drug alternative to help a man achieve an erection, if he experiences erection problems following treatment for prostate cancer.

What are urethral pellets?
Urethral pellets, which are sometimes referred to as intraurethral suppositories, or medicated urethral system for erections (MUSE), are another option to help with erection problems.

What are penile implants?
Penile implants involve the placement of a permanent device (also called aprosthesis), which give a man the ability to have an erection.

Prostate cancer questions and answers: incontinence

What is incontinence?
Urinary incontinence is another troubling side effect that can occur after treatment for prostate cancer. While there are different types—and varying levels of “leakage”—it may generally be described as the inability to control or stop urine from flowing.

Prostate cancer questions and answers: incontinence treatments

What are Kegel exercises?
Kegel exercises for men (also called pelvic floor exercises) are an attempt to help strengthen the muscles that support the bladder. These muscles also play a role in a man’s sexual function.

Are there drugs to help with incontinence?
The drugs used for “male incontinence” following treatment for prostate cancer are usually the same drugs that are used to treat a common condition called overactive bladder. While these drugs may contain different ingredients, they are typically prescribed to help reduce the frequent or urgent need to urinate.

What about collagen injections?
Collagen injections may be suggested for a very mild form of bladder incontinence, or if a man cannot have surgery (perhaps due to other health problems or his age) to correct long-term incontinence.

What is a male sling?
The male sling supports the urethra, which is the tube that carries urine from the bladder through the penis (where it is released when a man urinates). The sling also helps return the urethra to its normal position to help reduce the risk of urine leakage, particularly when a man coughs, sneezes, or engages in strenuous activities.

What is an artificial urinary sphincter?
This device (which typically consists of a cuff, a pump, and a balloon) is surgically implanted. The cuff—which is filled with a saline fluid—compresses the urethra to keep it closed, which prevents urine from leaking. When a man is ready to urinate, he squeezes the pump, which is implanted into his scrotum. This pulls the fluid from the cuff into the balloon, releasing the compression on the urethra—and allowing it to open—so he can urinate.

Prostate cancer questions and answers: recurrence

How common is recurrence?
Up to 70,000 men will have what’s termed a PSA recurrence (which also may be called a biochemical recurrence or biochemical failure) after their initial treatment. It means that some prostate cancer cells were either left behind during surgery, or survived radiation or cryotherapy, and they are now growing either near the area where the prostate gland was (if the man had surgery), within the prostate gland (if he had radiation or cryotherapy), or they have spread to another area of the body (called metastasis).

What is salvage radiation?
Salvage radiation treatment (or salvage radiotherapy) may be suggested if PSA rises after radical prostatectomy. Salvage radiation usually means external beam radiation (some men may receive hormone therapy for a few months prior to treatment). While salvage brachytherapy is sometimes performed on men who have a recurrence of prostate cancer after they have had external beam radiation, it is not as common after surgery for prostate cancer.

What is salvage radical prostatectomy?
Generally, this is a treatment option when doctors believe the cancer is still localized, which means it has not spread beyond the prostate gland. The challenge with this procedure is that the tissues that surround the prostate gland have undergone substantial damage from radiation. This makes it harder for the surgeon to see and cut out all of the areas that need to be removed. It may also prevent the surgeon from being able to perform a nerve-sparing procedure.

What is salvage cryotherapy?
Salvage cryotherapy (or cryosurgery or cyroablation) after failed radiation treatment for prostate cancer is a minimally invasive procedure that uses gases (such as liquid nitrogen) to freeze and destroy the cancer. Some physicians now use a “brachytherapy-like” approach to administer treatment.

Prostate cancer questions and answers: emotional concerns

Should I join a support group?
No one understands what you are going through like someone who has had experience with prostate cancer. You can call Us TOO at 800-808-7866 or the The American Cancer Society 800-ACS-2345 to see if they have support group meetings in your area.

We hope you have found these prostate cancer questions and answers to be helpful.

prostate cancer questions and answers

Another Prostate Cancer Questions and Answers

Prostate Cancer Questions and Answers

While many illnesses and diseases are well understood, prostate cancer is one of the remaining cancerous conditions that is shrouded in misunderstanding. There are several main reasons for this, not the least of which is that men as a group, simply do not want to deal with this very common no cancerous condition.

For many men, prostate cancer affects the very core of how they define their own manhood. The prostate is a key component in the sexual performance and ability of men. Prostate cancer than strikes at the very heart of how many men view themselves. In any event here are a few of the most common questions concerning prostate cancer.

1. What really is prostate cancer?
Prostate cancer is any abnormal and malignant growth of cells in the tissues of the prostate gland and possibly all over and beyond the prostate.

2. What is advanced prostate cancer?
This is one of the stages of prostate cancer where the cancerous cells have spread outside the prostate into other parts of the victim's body, causing damage along the way. There are four basic stages of prostate cancer.

3. What are the stages of prostate cancer?

Stage I of prostate cancer is when the cancer is only in the prostate area and hasn't spread outside the prostate.

Stage II of prostate cancer is when the cancer is still within the prostate, but is advancing.

Stage III of prostate cancer is when the cancer has now spread beyond the outer layer of the prostate into nearby tissues.

Stage IV is the stage that all men dread. In this stage of the cancer, it has spread to other parts of the body also known as metastatic prostate cancer

4. What is metastatic prostate cancer?
It is another name for advanced prostate cancer where the cancerous cells have grown outside the prostate and is growing into other parts of the body. Metastatic prostate cancer is extremely serious.

5. What causes prostate cancer?
There is no singular factor that causes prostate cancer. Heredity is suspected to play a large role in prostate cancer as is the race of the patient. Black men are much more likely to have prostate cancer than other groups.

6. What can I do about Prostate Cancer?
If you have a prostate and are over 50 years of age, you should really consider getting a yearly prostate exam and having a simple PSA blood test done. This information will provide a baseline for future reference.

Remember that the earlier you are diagnosed with prostate cancer, the more you have to fight this deadly disease and win.

Prostate Cancer Questions and Answers

Prostate Cancer Questions and Answers Discussion

Prostate Cancer Questions and Answers

Next to skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignant disease in America’s male population and only lung cancer kills more men every year. So why is this deadly, widespread cancer such a mystery to most people? It even eludes the medical profession to a degree – as the precise cause of prostate cancer is unknown. But if you arm yourself with prostate cancer questions and answers, you can quickly find the simple answers to them and arm yourself and/or your family against this nasty cancer too. Here are some prostate cancer questions and answers to get you started.

WHAT IS PROSTATE CANCER?
Prostate cancer begins as a malignant tumor, in which abnormal cells duplicate at an uncontrollable rate in the prostate gland (an organ of the male’s reproductive system). While men around the age of 72 are at a relatively high risk of getting prostate cancer and the disease does happen to beat out all other cancers as the most common for males in the United States – the cause of the cancer is still largely unknown, which begs the question…

WHAT CAUSES PROSTATE CANCER?
Doctors believe there might be environmental factors that cause prostate cancer, as it tends to occur in the West more than in Eastern countries like Japan and China. Moreover, Japanese and Chinese men living in the United States are diagnosed with the disease more often than Japanese and Chinese men living in their native countries. Basically, the geographic region that a man lives in may increase or decrease his chances of getting prostate cancer. However, high levels of the hormone testosterone probably contribute to the causes of prostate cancer as well; similarly, high fat intake is commonly associated with prostate cancer.

WHAT IS PROSTATITIS?
50% of men suffer from prostatitis during their lifetime! prostatitis is simply the inflammation, or enlargement, of the prostate gland and all the different conditions that go along with it. It can be misunderstood as a symptom of prostate cancer but it is usually unrelated and easily treated. Low back pain, fever, and difficulty urinating and ejaculating are some of the effects of prostatitis, which is often transmitted sexually and caused by bacteria for the most part. Antibiotics heal prostatitis, but acute and chronic conditions do occur and there can be serious complications if it is not treated early on.

HOW MANY MEN GET PROSTATE CANCER?
It is estimated that over 230,000 men in the United States (more than 500,000 overall) will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year and about 9% of them will die from the disease. While the number of deaths from prostate cancer is steadily decreasing, due to early diagnosis and other medical advancements, it is still an alarming problem.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF AN ENLARGED PROSTATE?
If you have an enlarged prostate, it is a symptom of prostate cancer, but it is very common for men over the age of 50 to have this condition and more often than not, it is benign. An enlarged prostate can cause other problems unrelated to cancer, however, so even if you don’t have prostate cancer, it’s important for you to treat an enlarged prostate.

Here are the symptoms of an enlarged prostate:

Frequent urination
Sudden urination
Weak, dripping stream of urine
Difficulty urinating and/or pain during urination
Constant urge to empty your bladder
Tender, swollen prostate

If you suffer from any of these ailments, talk to your doctor right away.

Prostate Cancer Questions and Answers

prostate cancer questions and answers languages bar