What is the Prostate?
What is Prostate Cancer?
- Prostate cancer occurs when the cells of the gland begin to mutate and multiply uncontrollably
- Regular prostate cancer screenings significantly increase the chance of detecting the disease in its early stages, making it much more curable:
- Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA): A blood test that measures the amount of a protein produced by the prostate
- Digital Rectal Examination (DRE): A physical examination of the prostate by a clinician to detect any abnormalities in the prostate's shape or texture
- Men should undergo yearly PSA checks and examinations beginning at age 50
- African American men, or men who have a family history of prostate cancer, should be screened yearly at age 40
Treatment Options:
Radical Retropubic Prostatectomy:
- The surgical removal of the prostate and seminal vesicles through an incision in the lower abdomen
- Patient is typically hospitalized for 3 days and recovers in 4-8 weeks
Prostate Brachytherapy:
- The implantation of small radioactive "seeds" directly into the prostate to deliver low doses of radiation for weeks or months
- Brachytherapy is typically an outpatient procedure, generally taking less than one hour to perform and a matter of hours to recover from
External Beam Radiation Therapy:
- Technique that focuses radiation on the prostate gland from outside the body
- The most common type is intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), which uses a computer-driven device that moves around the patient, delivering radiation to the affected area from various angles
- IMRT consists of daily treatments for 5-8 weeks
- The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sits just below the bladder
- It surrounds the urethra (the canal that empties urine from the bladder) and produces seminal fluid
Prostate Cancer Foundation of Chicago