Pain Or Burning Sensation When Urinating
Painful urination is also known as dysuria. This symptom tends to be more common in older men than in younger men. Dysuria is characterized by feelings of discomfort, pain, and/or burning when urinating. Dysuria may also be a sign of other medical conditions, including a urinary tract infection or sexually transmitted infection, which is why its important to see your doctor for a proper diagnosis.
What Is The Prognosis For People Who Have Prostate Cancer
Because prostate cancer tends to grow slowly, most men die from something other than the disease. Early detection is key to better outcomes. Almost all men 97% to 98% diagnosed with localized cancer that hasnt spread outside of the prostate live at least five years after diagnosis. When metastatic cancer has spread outside of the gland, one-third of men continue to survive after five years.
What Is Radical Prostatectomy For Prostate Cancer
Radical prostatectomy is the surgical removal of the entire prostate. This operation is indicated for cancer that is limited to the prostate and has not invaded the capsule of the prostate, any other nearby structures or lymph nodes, or distant organs.
Transurethral resection of the prostate is an alternative to radical prostatectomy.
- Only part of the prostate is removed by an instrument inserted through the urethra.
- An electric current passes through a small wire loop at the end of the instrument. The electrical current cuts away a piece of the prostate.
- This procedure is used to remove tissue that is blocking urine flow in patients with extensive disease or those that are not fit enough to undergo radical prostatectomy. It is not considered a procedure for cure.
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Signs And Symptoms Of Prostate Cancer
Most prostate cancers are found early, through screening. Early prostate cancer usually causes no symptoms. More advanced prostate cancers can sometimes cause symptoms, such as:
- Problems urinating, including a slow or weak urinary stream or the need to urinate more often, especially at night
- Blood in the urine or semen
- Trouble getting an erection
- Pain in the hips, back , chest , or other areas from cancer that has spread to bones
- Weakness or numbness in the legs or feet, or even loss of bladder or bowel control from cancer pressing on the spinal cord
Most of these problems are more likely to be caused by something other than prostate cancer. For example, trouble urinating is much more often caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia , a non-cancerous growth of the prostate. Still, its important to tell your health care provider if you have any of these symptoms so that the cause can be found and treated, if needed. Some men might need more tests to check for prostate cancer.
Early Signs Of Prostate Cancer
While any of the above symptoms can be your first indication that you have prostate cancer, urinary symptoms are more likely than other symptoms to appear early.
Its important to keep in mind that most of these symptoms can also be caused by other conditions that arent cancer. These conditions include benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatitis.
So, while its important to keep tabs on any symptoms you may have, remember that theres a good chance theyre not caused by cancer.
That said, neither of these conditions causes blood to appear in your urine. If you have this symptom, call your doctor right away.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
Its also because the results from the prostate-specific antigen test, which can be part of the screening, may lead to a misdiagnosis of cancer. For both of these reasons, screening could cause unnecessary worry and unneeded treatment.
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Causes And Risk Factors Of Prostate Cancer
It isnt clear as to why cells in the prostate mutate and multiply. However, based on studies, there are a handful of risk factors that might lead men to develop prostate cancer. These include age, race, genetic history, and obesity.;
- Age: As age increases, the risk of prostate cancer is greater.
- Race: As a common occurrence across many cancers, African-American men have an increased risk of prostate cancer compared to men of other races. They also have a greater chance of having aggressive prostate cancer.
- Genetic History: If prostate cancer has affected any of the men in your family, or breast cancer has affected the women, your likelihood of developing it is greater.
- Obesity: Mostly, every form of cancer has a link between unhealthy weight and cancer. Obese patients usually have a greater risk of having a more aggressive prostate cancer.;
What Causes Prostate Cancer
The exact cause of prostate cancer is unknown. One in three men older than 50 years has some cancer cells in the prostate. Luckily, eight out of 10 tumors are found to be small and harmless after the biopsy. Although the reason for prostate cancer is unknown, there are many risk factors that increase the risk of prostate cancer:
- Age over 55 years
- Ethnicity: Common in blacks as compared to Caucasians.
- Genetic/family history
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Talk With Your Doctor
Prostate cancer is a risk for all men as they age, but if its caught and treated early, the outlook is generally very good. So as you get older, be sure to have open conversations with your doctor about your risk.
If you have any symptoms you think might be prostate cancer, talk to your doctor right away. And even if you dont have symptoms, consider adopting a healthy lifestyle to decrease your risk.
What Else Can Cause These Symptoms
As men get older their prostate gland enlarges. It isn’t normally cancer. But instead a condition called benign prostatic hyperplasia . BPH is when the prostate gland grows and presses;on the urethra. The urethra is the tube that empties out urine from the bladder.
BPH does not develop into cancer. But;you can have an enlarged prostate at the;same time as having areas in the prostate gland that contain cancer cells.;
See your doctor if you have any of the changes described here.
The changes don’t mean that you have cancer but it is important to get them checked so your doctor can help with you cope with them.
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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
What Are Prostate Cancer Treatment Side Effects
Some prostate cancer treatments can affect the bladder, erectile nerves and sphincter muscle, which controls urination. Potential problems include:
- Incontinence: Some men experience urinary incontinence. You may leak urine when you cough or laugh, or you may feel an urgent need to use the bathroom even when your bladder isnt full. This problem can improve over the first six to 12 months without treatment.
- Erectile dysfunction : Surgery, radiation and other treatments can damage the erectile nerves and affect your ability to get or maintain an erection. Some men regain erectile function within a year or two . In the meantime, medications like sildenafil or tadalafil can help by increasing blood flow to the penis.
- Infertility: Treatments can affect your ability to produce or ejaculate sperm, resulting in male infertility. If you think you might want children in the future, you can preserve sperm in a sperm bank before you start treatments. After treatments, you may undergo sperm extraction. This procedure involves removing sperm directly from testicular tissue and implanting it into a womans uterus.
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Blood In Semen Or Urine
Blood in both the urine and seminal fluid is key to look for.As a tumor develops in the prostate gland, it can grow, causing it to press on the urethra, surrounding glands, and blood vessels. As this happens 2, structures can become irritated , which leads to bloody urine or semen. Down the line, blood in the semen or urine can also happen as a result of common prostate treatment options.
What Can Prostate Cancer Feel Like
Fatigue: This can be both because of the treatment or the presence of cancer itself. The process has a mental and an emotional toll as well, so it is important to keep a check on your therapy, diet, physical activity and sleeping routine.
Pain: You may feel severe or no pain depending on the location of the tumor. A stinging pain is characteristic specifically to when the cancer is spread in the bones. This may weaken them, making them vulnerable to fractures or soreness. So, if you are wondering if prostate cancer hurts, the answer is yes. However, the degree of severity can vary.; The sensations can be burning, stabbing, tingling, or numbing.
Issues in Bowel Movement: This includes constipation, diarrhea, the urgency to excrete feces, or no control over fecal excretion thus causing leakage.
Lack of Sexual Drive: Prostate cancer in men affects a body part that is deemed very personal. The inactivity signals aging, which is a source of stress, but it is actually more than that. One of the signs of prostate cancer is erectile dysfunction the odds of which are elevated after getting treatment for this cancer. Androgen Deprivation Therapy is when this cancer is ought to be treated by decreasing the levels of testosterone, and that can affect your sex life adversely.
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Risk Factors For Prostate Cancer
Because prostate cancer tends to not show symptoms in its early stages, risk factors are another useful tool to identify candidates for screening. The Mayo Clinic notes that risk certainly increases as you grow older, and obese men may be more likely to have prostate cancer that is aggressive or difficult to treat.
For unknown reasons, black men are also at a greater risk of prostate cancer than men of other races. Not only are they more likely to get prostate cancer, but the risk of prostate cancer being aggressive or advanced is also higher.
Finally, your family history or genetics can also help determine your prostate cancer risk. For example, men with close relatives who had prostate cancer are more likely to get it. Also, a family history of breast cancer or the presence of the genes BRCA1 or BRCA2 within the family also raises the likelihood of a man developing prostate cancer.
What Is The Prostate Cancer Survival Rate
Prostate cancer can be successfully treated when caught early on. The survival rate for this cancer depends on the stage of cancer.
According to the American Cancer Society, men with localized and regional prostate cancer have a nearly 100% 5-year relative survival rate. This means that men with prostate cancer are nearly 100% as likely as men without cancer to live for at least five years following their diagnosis. Localized cancer is cancer confined to the prostate, while regional cancer is cancer that has spread outside the prostate to nearby tissues or lymph nodes.
The 5-year relative survival rate for distant prostate cancer is 30%. Distant prostate cancer is aggressive cancer that has spread to other parts of the body far from the prostate, such as the liver or lungs.
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Do You Know The Five Warning Signs Of Prostate Cancer
Posted on by Southwest Diagnostic Center for Molecular Imagingin Cancer Screening, Prostate Cancer
Do you know that prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in American men next to skin cancer? Do you know that the prostate is a vital part of a mans reproductive system? Do you know men can have both benign and cancerous growths in the prostate gland? Most importantly, do you know the five warning signs of prostate cancer? Every man should know when to take action.
Is It Always Cancer
HOWEVER, as we said, most prostate tumors dont happen in the central gland, but in the peripheral zone. And this zone is far from the urethra.
So, many times, when we have these symptoms they are NOT because of cancer.
They are because of something else like benign prostatic hyperplasia . This disorder is way more frequent and many men suffer it after a certain age .
Whats more, pain and burn are also caused by prostatitis .
So how can we tell between cancer and the others ?
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Does Prostate Cancer Have Any Symptoms
Most men with early prostate cancer dont have any signs or symptoms.
One reason for this is the way the cancer grows. Youll usually only get early symptoms if the cancer grows near the tube you urinate through and presses against it, changing the way you urinate . But because prostate cancer usually starts to grow in a different part of the prostate, early prostate cancer doesnt often press on the urethra and cause symptoms.
If you do notice changes in the way you urinate, this is more likely to be a sign of a very common non-cancerous problem called an;enlarged prostate, or another health problem. But its still a good idea to get it checked out. Possible changes include:
- difficulty starting to urinate or emptying your bladder
- a weak flow when you urinate
- a feeling that your bladder hasnt emptied properly
- dribbling urine after you finish urinating
- needing to urinate more often than usual, especially at night
- a sudden need to urinate you may sometimes leak urine before you get to the toilet.
If prostate cancer breaks out of the prostate or spreads to other parts of the body , it can cause other symptoms, including:
- back pain, hip pain or pelvis pain
- problems getting or keeping an erection
- blood in the urine or semen
- unexplained weight loss.
These symptoms can all be caused by other health problems. But its still a good idea to tell your GP about any symptoms so they can find out whats causing them and make sure you get the right treatment, if you need it.
You Might Have Trouble Ejaculating
As Dr. Sloane noted above, one of the key symptoms of prostate cancer is checking for an unusually weak stream.
Notably, your ejaculatory stream may also fall subject to this too. If you’re noticing that you are not ejaculating as much as you usually do, or even that it’s more painful when you do, that could be something to explore with your doctor, as it often has been connected to early stages of prostate cancer, according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
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Can Women Get Prostate Cancer
Women do not have a prostate gland, therefore, they cannot develop the prostate cancer that affects men. However, some people refer to a womans Skenes glands as the female prostate.
Maslow emphasizes, Women do not have a prostate.;; They do not need to worry about prostate cancer.;We do appropriate screenings for female patients.
The Skenes glands are the two small ducts located in front of the vaginal wall and along both sides of the urethra. These glands are not the same as prostate glands in men, though they function similarly in how they drain fluids into the urethra.
Cancer in the Skenes glands is extremely rare and accounts for an estimated 0.003% of female cancers that originate in the urinary tract and genitals. The primary symptom of this cancer is bleeding out of the urethra. Make an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible if you are female and experience abnormal bleeding from your vagina or urethra.
Your Role In Prostate Cancer Screening
;The time to diagnose, treat and cure prostate cancer is through good screening versus waiting until symptoms arrive. Sometimes patients wait for their primary care doctor to guide them, however, due to some confusion in the frequency PSA testing guidelines, many primary care doctors are not familiar with the current recommendations, so you should be your own advocate and let your urologist be your guide.
A PSA test is a simple and inexpensive blood test that is used to detect prostate cancer. PSA testing works. Prior to regular PSA screening, in the mid 90s, 75% of men who were found to have prostate cancer had metastatic disease. Meaning the cancer had spread outside of the prostate. Today, with regular PSA testing, urologists can find prostate cancer while it is localized to the prostate and when that happens, the cure rate is in the mid 90% range.
Urologists recommend a PSA screening at least every other year and for some at higher risk every year. Men should think about starting PSA testing at age 55 and continue at least until they are 70, and even after 70, if healthy. Some higher risk individuals may need to start screening earlier.; For those individuals who have a primary relative who has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and those who are African American it is recommended that they begin screening in their 40s.
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