Prostate cancer is the most common cancer next to lung and colon cancer in men
. This potentially fatal disease can be cured easily if detected early. Fortunately most prostate cancers are slow to develop and grow hence we have enough time to detect. If not, the cancer might spread to other organs nearby.
Prostate cancer is one of those diseases that does not show any symptoms. It's presence is usually revealed during routine 'digital rectal exam' or DRE for short and 'prostate specific antigen' or PSA blood test.
Digital rectal exam(DRE) is done by a doctor to detect the presence of prostate cancer. The process is quick and painless. The physician inserts a lubricated gloved finger into the rectum to feel for any abnormalities or lumps on the prostate gland or in other areas inside rectum. It is advisable for men above 50 to undergo this test once in a year.
The prostate specific antigen(PSA) test is done on those who either have a family history of prostate cancer or on those who have prostate problems. This test is conducted to know the level of PSA which are produced by prostate cells. The normal levels are 4 nanograms per milliliter.A PSA score of 4-10 indicates borderline and anything above it is high. High PSA scores indicate prostate cancer and need further investigation. A small tissue sample is taken from the prostate for biopsy to determine the presence of prostate cancer.
Gleason score is done to determine whether the cancer can spread to other parts of the body. The biopsy sample is used to evaluate your Gleason score which is a prostate cancer grading system from 2-10. A score of 2-4 is indicative of low risk. A 5-6 score indicates moderate risk. A score of 7-10 denotes high risk
There are six stages of prostate cancer which are T1,T2,T3-4,N,M. T1 stage indicates that the cancer is localized inside the prostate and can be detected by PSA tests. The treatment options are radiation and radical prostatectomy. T2 stage is when the cancer inside the prostate gland as indicated by DRE test. The treatment options are same as above,radiation and radical prostatectomy. T3-4 stage comes when prostate cancer has spread just beyond prostate gland. The treatment options are hormone therapy and radiation. The N stage indicates that the cancer has spread beyond prostate gland to affect the lymph nodes. The treatment options are hormone therapy and complete removal of prostate gland and lymph nodes. M stage occurs when the prostate cancer has spread to other parts of body.
The treatment options are radiation and other suitable therapies to be determined by the physician.