Prostate cancer is a type of cancer that develops in the male reproductive gland known as the prostate
. Like many other types of cancer, prostate cancer is divided into several stages. These stages are used to represent the growth of the cancer and how much it has spread throughout the body. Prostate cancer will grow for years inside of the prostate. After the cancer grows so large, it leaves the prostate and spreads to other tissues in the body. When the cancer grows larger or spreads to different locations in the body, the patient then enters the stage of cancer.
The cancer has spread outside of the prostate by the time that the patient enters prostate cancer stage 4. There are three different ways that prostate cancer spreads throughout the body. Prostate cancer will spread through body tissue. It starts by invading the tissues closest to it then it will move farther throughout the body. Prostate cancer will also spread through the lymph system and through the patients blood stream. When the cancer breaks away from the original tumor, there is a good chance of another tumor forming in a different location in the body.
Cancer patients that reach prostate cancer stage 4 have cancerous cells spreading to locations other than the prostate. By this time, the cancer has spread beyond seminal vessels and to the rectum and the bladder. It is also common for prostate cancer stage 4 patients to have the cancer spread to the bones and lymph nodes. The bones of the patient are the most common place that prostate cancer will spread to.
When the patient enters prostate cancer stage 4, the cancer has become very difficult to cure. The patients in this stage of cancer may be able to survive for several years if they receive proper treatment. Patients in prostate cancer stage 4 often will not receive surgery. This is because surgeries aren't usually helpful when the cancer invades additional organs. Prostate cancer stage 4 is recommended to be treated by hormone and radiation therapies. During the hormone therapy, the patients male hormones are removed. The absence of the hormones stops the cancer from growing. Chemotherapy is used for treatment of prostate cancer stage 4 when necessary.
Cancer patients can survive for longer amount of time if they take good care of themselves and get the proper treatments. Its possible to slow down the process of prostate cancer stage 4. The longer a patient waits to revive treatments, the greater chance of the cancer spreading. Routine prostate exams are the best way to identify prostate cancer.