Late Stage Prostate Cancer Symptoms

What Tests Will I Have

You may have tests to find out how far the cancer has spread. If you are generally not very well it may not be necessary to do extra tests. Your doctor will still be able to recommend treatment. Some of these tests can also be used to check how you are responding to treatment.

You may have some or all of the following tests:

PSA blood test

Prostate specific antigen is a protein that can rise due to disease in your prostate gland. A sample is taken from your blood and measured. A PSA test can also show how well your cancer is responding to treatment.

Biopsy

A biopsy is where a sample of your prostate tissue is taken and examined under a microscope. It isnt common to have a biopsy with metastatic prostate cancer, but if this is your first prostate cancer diagnosis it may be necessary. Treatment can still start without a biopsy.

Bone scan

Metastatic prostate cancer often spreads to the bones. Bone scans can find cancer spots before they show up on an ordinary X-ray. For this test, a tiny amount of radioactive liquid is put into a vein, usually in your arm. After the injection you will have to wait up to 3 hours. A scan is then taken of all the bones in your body. Abnormal bone takes up more radioactive liquid than normal bone. These areas will show up on the scan and are known as ‘hot spots’. The scan can also show bone changes like arthritis.

Read more about cancer tests.

These tests will help your doctor to decide on the best treatment for you.

Symptoms Of Prostate Cancer Spread To The Lymph Nodes

Lymph nodes are part of a system of tubes and glands in the body that filters body fluid and fights infection.

There are lots of lymph nodes in the groin area, which is close to the prostate gland. Prostate cancer can spread to the lymph nodes in the groin area, or to other parts of the body. The most common symptoms are swelling and pain around the area where the cancer has spread.

Cancer cells can stop lymph fluid from draining away. This might lead to swelling in the legs due to fluid build up in that area. The swelling is called lymphoedema.

Learning About Your Treatment Options

You may have questions and concerns about your treatment options. For example, you may want to know if treatment will affect your urinary or sexual function. You may also want to know if youll have to change your normal activities.

Your healthcare provider is the best person to answer your questions. He or she can tell you what your treatment choices are, how successful theyre expected to be, and what the risks and side effects might be. Your healthcare provider may advise a specific treatment. Or he or she may offer more than one option, giving you a choice. This can be a hard decision to make. Each type of treatment has different benefits and risks. You may want to learn all you can about your cancer and treatment choices so that you can make decisions about your care.

Talk with your healthcare provider to get answers to your questions. Its important to take the time to make the best decision for you.

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Managing Symptoms Of Advanced Prostate Cancer

Symptoms can often be improved by treating the cancer, but there are other ways to control symptoms. Tell your doctor or specialist nurse if you have new symptoms or symptoms get worse.

You may see a doctor or nurse who specialises in pain and symptom control. They are sometimes called palliative care specialists.

Some people find complementary therapies such as relaxation, gentle massage, or aromatherapy help you feel better and more in control.

Other Professionals Who Can Help

Your doctor, nurse or GP can refer you to these professionals.

• Physiotherapists can help with mobility and provide exercises to help improve fitness or ease pain. This can help you stay independent for longer.

• Counsellors, psychologists or psychotherapists can help you and your family work through any difficult feelings and find ways of coping. Many hospitals have counsellors or psychologists who specialise in helping people with cancer. You can also get free counselling on the NHS without a referral from your GP. Visit nhs.uk/counselling to find out more.
• Dietitians can give you advice about healthy eating, which might help with fatigue and staying a healthy weight. They can also help if you are losing weight or having problems eating.
• Occupational therapists can provide advice and access to equipment and adaptations to help with daily life. For example, help with dressing, eating, bathing or using the stairs.
• Social services, including social workers, can provide practical and financial advice and access to emotional support. They can give you advice about practical issues such as arranging for someone to support you at home. Whats available varies from place to place. Your GP, hospital doctor or nurse might be able to refer you to some services. The telephone number for your local social service department will be in the phonebook under the name of your local authority, on their website and at the town hall.

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Further Treatments To Control The Cancer

Your first treatment may help keep your cancer under control. But over time, the cancer may change and start to grow again. If this happens you might be offered other treatments, including:

• more hormone therapy
• clinical trials

More hormone therapy

Your prostate cancer may respond well to other types of hormone therapy, such as abiraterone , enzalutamide , steroids or oestrogens, or to a combination of treatments.

More chemotherapy

If youve had hormone therapy on its own as a first treatment, you might be offered a chemotherapy drug called docetaxel . This may help some men to live longer, and can help to improve and delay symptoms. If youve already had docetaxel, you might be offered more docetaxel or another chemotherapy drug called cabazitaxel .

Radium-223

This is a type of internal radiotherapy that may be an option if your cancer has spread to your bones and is causing pain. A radioactive liquid is injected into your arm and collects in bones that have been damaged by the cancer. It kills cancer cells in the bones and helps some men to live longer. It can also help to reduce bone pain and delay some symptoms, such as bone fractures. Read more about radiotherapy for advanced prostate cancer.

Your Gp Practice Nurse And District Nurse

Your GP, practice nurse, and district or community nurse will work with other health professionals to co-ordinate your care and offer you support and advice. They can also refer you to local services. They can visit you in your home and also help support your family. They might also care for you if you go into a nursing home or hospice.

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What Is The Difference Between Prostate Cancer And Advanced Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer occurs when cells in the prostate gland begin to grow out of control. In the early stages of prostate cancer, the cancer cells are only present in the prostate and have not spread to nearby tissues.

Advanced prostate cancer, also known as stage 4 prostate cancer, occurs when cancer cells have spread to other areas of the body.

Early Versus Delayed Treatment

In the years following the introduction by Huggins and Hodges of hormone therapy for prostate cancer, early institution of such treatment was recommended based on comparison with historical controls.

Later, the Veterans Administration Cooperative Urology Research Group studies reversed the recommendation of early hormone therapy instead, hormone therapy was deferred until symptomatic progression. In addition, prolongation of survival was believed to be secondary to the alteration of the nature of metastatic lesions, thereby creating earlier androgen resistance, rather than a result of early hormone manipulation.

In more recent years, the old controversy of appropriate androgen-deprivation therapy timing has gained new and stronger popularity because of the advent of less-toxic and well-tolerated pharmaceutical agents, such as luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonists and antiandrogens. Laboratory studies have demonstrated that early hormone therapy does not confer early resistance. An update of the VACURG study by Byar and Corle determined that disease progression from stage C to stage D was decreased from 50% to 10% with diethylstilbestrol therapy. Crawford and associates also showed a benefit of early hormone therapy in patients with distant metastases.

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Bladder And Urinary Troubles

A prostate tumor that has grown significantly in size may start to press on your bladder and urethra. The urethra is the passage the carries urine from your bladder out of your body. If the tumor is pressing on your urethra, you might have trouble passing urine.

One of the common areas for prostate cancer to spread to is the bladder, because the two organs are close. This can cause additional problems with urination and bladder function.

Some symptoms your bladder and urethra are being affected by cancer include:

• urinating more frequently
• getting up in the middle of the night to pee
• having blood in your urine or semen
• feeling like you have to urinate often and not actually passing anything

Its not as common, but prostate cancer can also spread to your bowel. The cancer first spreads to the rectum, which is the part of your bowel closest to the prostate gland.

Symptoms of cancer thats spread to the bowels include:

• stomach pain

Prostate Cancer Late Stages

ByJames Kernal | Submitted On July 23, 2008

In early stages, prostate cancer can often be treated very successfully by a variety of methods. However if it progresses to spread to the surrounding bone, then a cure is no longer possible, and treatment can only prolong and increase quality of life.

As prostate cancer progresses, symptoms such as painful urination, irregular urine flow and even blood in the urine in some rare cases begin to become apparent. These can be caused by many others things and do not mean someone has prostate cancer, but should still be checked by a doctor or GP. If left untreated, the cancer can spread to the surrounding bone rendering it un-curable. In prostate cancer this is often a slow process and can take up to fifteen years. Because of this, many men who have prostate cancer die of different causes before they are killed by the cancer.

In the late stages of prostate cancer, a patient may show the following symptoms:

o Weight loss

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End Stage Of Prostate Cancer

Christopher Mabary

Prostate cancer is a malignant tumor which generally affects men older than the age of 50. The tumor develops inside the gland located just below the bladder. The disease has its own specific course and goes through a few stages. Progression of prostate cancer is individual and first symptoms occur when the tumor becomes large enough and initiates compression or infiltrates nearby organs and tissues. It can be also diagnosed accidentally. Unfortunately, prostate cancer may remain asymptomatic for a long period of time. In such case it is diagnosed late, when it has already given bone metastases.

Life Expectancy for Patient with Prostate Cancer

End stage prostate cancer is advanced disease. It has its own symptoms and signs which may vary from patient to patient but what is common for all people with end stage of the disease is soon, inevitable lethal outcome. End stage prostate cancer is simply incurable.

End Stage Prostate Cancer Clinical Characteristics

End Stage Prostate Cancer Treatment

There are several treatment modalities for people suffering from end stage prostate cancer. There are hormonal therapy, chemotherapy, trans-urethral resection of the prostate, pain management and radiation therapy. All of the mentioned therapies are not engaged to cure the patients but to ease their pain and all the accompanying, unpleasant and unbearable symptoms. Therefore, this treatment is called palliative.

Side Effects of Treatment

Support Groups

Enlarged Prostate Or Prostate Cancer

The prostate can grow larger as men age, sometimes pressing on the bladder or urethra and causing symptoms similar to prostate cancer. This is called benign prostatic hyperplasia . Its not cancer and can be treated if symptoms become bothersome. A third problem that can cause urinary symptoms is prostatitis. This inflammation or infection may also cause a fever and in many cases is treated with medication.

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Eating Problems And Weight Loss

Some men with advanced prostate cancer have problems eating, or dont feel very hungry. You might feel or be sick. These problems may be caused by your cancer or by your treatments. Being worried about things can also affect your appetite.

Problems eating or loss of appetite can lead to weight loss and can make you feel very tired and weak. Advanced prostate cancer can also cause weight loss by changing the way your body uses energy.

What can help?

If you feel sick because of your treatment, your doctor can give you anti-sickness drugs. Steroids can also increase your appetite and are sometimes given along with other treatments.

Try to eat small amounts often. If youre struggling to eat because of nausea , try to avoid strong smelling foods. Cold foods tend to smell less, or it may help if someone cooks for you. Try to eat when you feel less sick, even if its not your usual mealtime. Fatty and fried foods can make sickness worse. Drink plenty of water, but drink slowly and try not to drink too much before you eat.

Tell your doctor if you lose weight. They can refer you to a dietitian who can provide advice about high calorie foods and any supplements that might help. It can be upsetting for your family to see you losing weight, and they may also need support. Macmillan Cancer Support and provide support and information about eating problems in advanced cancer.

What Are The Prostate Cancer Stages

The prostate is a gland about the size of a walnut that is a part of the male reproductive system. In the USA, roughly 13 out of every 100 men will develop prostate cancer sometime in their lives, making it one of the most common cancers in men. Most cases are diagnosed in the early stages when cancer affects only the prostate. As the disease progresses, prostate cancer can spread to lymph nodes, bones, liver, and other body parts. In the final stages, prostate cancer is often incurable, but some treatments can help lengthen and improve your quality of life.

Doctors often use the Gleason score and Grade Groups to evaluate prostate cancer as it develops. Cancer cells dont look the same as healthy cells. If cancer is suspected, your doctor will take a sample to study under a microscope. Cancer cells are then graded based on how similar or different they look compared to healthy cells. The grades typically range between 3 and 5. Low-scoring cancer cells that look more normal are often slow-growing, but higher scored cancer cells are much more likely to be aggressive and spread quickly .

The grades from the two most common cell patterns in your biopsy sample are added together. This number is usually between 6 and 10 and is called a Gleason Score. The cancer is then further broken down into Grade Groups 1 through 5 based on your Gleason score. A Gleason score of 6 would be put in Grade Group 1, and a Gleason score of 10 would be in Grade Group 5.

Stage 1 prostate cancer

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Gleason Score Vs Grade Groups

The International Society of Urological Pathology released a revised prostate cancer grading system in 2014. The grade group system seeks to simplify Gleason scores and give a more accurate diagnosis.

One of the major problems with the Gleason score is that some scores can be made up in different ways. For example, a score of 7 can mean:

• 3 + 4. The 3 pattern is the most common in the biopsy and 4 is the second most common. This pattern is considered favorable intermediate risk.
• 4 + 3. The 4 pattern is the most common in the biopsy and 3 is the second most common. This pattern is considered unfavorable and may mean local or metastatic spread.

So, although both situations give a Gleason score of 7, they actually have very different prognoses.

Heres an overview of how the two grading systems compare:

Not all hospitals have switched to the grade group system. Many hospitals give both grade group and Gleason scores to avoid confusion until grade groups become more widely used.

What Are The Signs That Prostate Cancer Has Spread

Approximately one in nine men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime. This is why screening is so important, especially if youre over the age of 50.

Unfortunately, many times symptoms of prostate cancer dont appear during the early stages. Some men dont notice the warning signs until its metastasized. Late detection is one of the reasons why only a very few men consider getting treatment, and survive prostate cancer.

If youre asking yourself, What are the signs that prostate cancer has spread, keep reading. Aside from using reputable websites such as drcatalona.com, this article will provide information over some late-stage symptoms.

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What Is My Outlook

If youre diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, you may want to know how well your treatment is likely to control your cancer and for how long it will control it. This is sometimes called your outlook or prognosis. But not all men will want to know this.

While it isnt possible to cure advanced prostate cancer, treatments can help keep it under control, often for several years. Treatments will also help manage any symptoms, such as pain.

No one can tell you exactly what your outlook will be, as it will depend on many things such as where the cancer has spread to, how quickly it has spread, and how well you respond to treatment. Some men may not respond well to one treatment, but may respond better to another. And when your first treatment stops working, there are other treatments available to help keep the cancer under control for longer. Speak to your doctor about your own situation and any questions or concerns you have.