Impact Of Age On Treatment
The rising number of men diagnosed with prostate cancer is a result of increasing life expectancy as well as the current practice of screening by prostate-specific antigen blood tests. Besides PSA and Gleason score, age is considered a key prognostic factor in treatment decision making. Although organ-confined disease can be cured by radical prostatectomy and full-dose local radiation therapy, treatment options for advanced- stage disease remain palliative. They include active surveillance, or watchful waiting, early versus delayed hormonal therapy to control disease progression, and continuous or intermittent androgen deprivation. Observational studies of older men with early stage disease have suggested conservative management as a viable option.,
Chodak and associates evaluated 828 men who were managed expectantly in a series of nonrandomized trials. Median follow-up was approximately 6.5 years. Patients with poorly differentiated cancers had a 10-fold increased risk of death from prostate cancer as compared with men showing highly differentiated prostate cancer. A 5-year disease-specific survival of only 34% was found in men with poorly differentiated prostate cancer. In contrast a 5-year disease-specific survival of 87% was described in men with well-or moderately differentiated cancers.
Stage Iv Prostate Cancer Prognosis
Prostate cancers detected at the distant stage have an average five-year survival rate of 28 percent, which is much lower than local and regional cancers of the prostate. This average survival rate represents stage IV prostate cancers that have metastasized beyond nearby areas to lymph nodes, organs or bones in other parts of the body.
How We Treat Prostate Cancer
The prognosis for metastatic prostate cancer can be discouraging, but some treatment centerslike the Johns Hopkins Precision Medicine Center of Excellence for Prostate Cancerspecialize in innovative, individualized therapy with the potential to improve outcomes.
How Is Prostate Cancer Diagnosed
Medical interview and physical examination:
A proper medical interview eliciting a thorough medical history and a physical examination are essential in the diagnostic workup of any man in whom prostate cancer is suspected. He may be referred to a physician who specializes in urinary tract diseases or in urinary tract cancers . A man will be asked questions about his medical and surgical history, lifestyle and habits, and any medications he takes. Risk factors including family history of prostate cancer will be assessed .
Digital rectal examination is part of the physical examination: All men with firm swelling, asymmetry, or palpable, discrete, firm areas or nodules in the prostate gland require further diagnostic studies to rule out prostate cancer, particularly if they are over the age of 45 or have other risk factors for the disease .
Because urological symptoms can indicate a variety of conditions, a man may undergo further testing to pinpoint their cause. Initial screening tests include blood testing for PSA and urine testing for blood or signs of infection.
Prostate specific antigen :
PSA is an enzyme produced by both normal and abnormal prostate tissues. It may be elevated in noncancerous conditions, such as prostatitis and benign prostatic hypertrophy , as well as in cancer of the prostate. Therefore, confirmation of an elevated serum PSA is advisable prior to proceed to prostate biopsy.
The following standards have been set for PSA levels:
Read Also: Does Enlarged Prostate Affect Ejaculation
Prognostic Factors That Determine The Need For Further Investigation Following A Negative Biopsy
In developing a recent UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clinical guideline for the diagnosis of treatment of prostate cancer, the UK National Collaborating Centre for Cancer undertook a systematic review to identify the prognostic factors that determine the need for further investigation following a prior negative biopsy in men who have been referred with suspected prostate cancer. The review included retrospective and prospective cohort studies that reported on the following potential prognostic factors: age, ethnicity, family history of prostate cancer, DRE, total PSA, free-to-total PSA%, PSA density, PSA velocityii and PCA3 score at the time of initial biopsy, and histopathological features reported on initial biopsy .
The NICE systematic review classified the results of relevant predictive studies into two broad groups: results of univariate analyses and results of multivariate analyses . The multivariate analyses are likely to provide more reliable evidence, because they reduce the risk of bias due to confounding variables. The most frequently addressed potentially confounding variables were age, DRE, PSA, free-to-total PSA%, PSA density, PSA velocity, high-grade PIN, ASAP and prostate volume.
Age
Family history
Digital rectal examination
The updated NICE systematic review found one additional study, which reported an OR of 1.36 for abnormal DRE relative to normal DRE in a multivariate model.
What Happens Without Treatment
Physicians will sometimes talk about a particular diseases natural history or typical progression if it is left untreated indefinitely.
With regard to prostate cancer, most cases of the disease are discovered while the cancer is still confined to the prostate itself. This is called local disease or localized disease.
The disease is easiest to treat while it is confined to the prostate. At this stage, surgery and radiation are most likely to be curative and completely kill or remove whatever cancer cells are present.
If left untreated, however, prostate cancer can proceed on a number of different paths.
Also Check: Does Prostatitis Go Away Without Treatment
Questions You May Want To Consider Asking Your Doctor Include:
- What type of prostate problem do I have?
- Is more testing needed and what will it tell me?
- If I decide on watchful waiting, what changes in my symptoms should I look for and how often should I be tested?
- What type of treatment do you recommend for my prostate problem?
- For men like me, has this treatment worked?
- How soon would I need to start treatment and how long would it last?
- Do I need medicine and how long would I need to take it before seeing improvement in my symptoms?
- What are the side effects of the medicine?
- Are there other medicines that could interfere with this medication?
- If I need surgery, what are the benefits and risks?
- Would I have any side effects from surgery that could affect my quality of life?
- Are these side effects temporary or permanent?
- How long is recovery time after surgery?
- Will I be able to fully return to normal?
- How will this affect my sex life?
- How often should I visit the doctor to monitor my condition?
Related Resources
Tests Used To Check The Prostate
This first step lets your doctor hear and understand the story of your prostate concerns. Youll be asked whether you have symptoms, how long youve had them, and how much they affect your lifestyle. Your personal medical history also includes any risk factors, pain, fever, or trouble passing urine. You may be asked to give a urine sample for testing.
Recommended Reading: How Long Does Acute Prostatitis Last
You May Like: Prostate Cancer Bone Marrow Infiltration
Watchful Waiting And Active Surveillance
Watchful waiting is an adequate approach in patients who are at low risk of death from prostate cancer because of their limited life expectancy due to severe comorbidities., Watchful waiting resulted in similar overall survival when compared with radical prostatectomy, but disease-specific survival was better in patients who had undergone surgery. For some patients it turns out to be hard to persist on a watchful waiting policy, and many men drop out and seek active treatment within several years, mostly when PSA elevation is noted.
Active surveillance is a novel and fascinating approach to distinguish between patients who are at higher risk and need active therapy and patients who are at low risk for disease progression., This approach avoids the risks of therapy while allowing early detection of those patients who are prone to progress. In these high-risk individuals, delayed active treatment is offered. Periodic monitoring of the PSA serum level, digital rectal exam, and repeated prostate biopsies are performed in patients who are on active surveillance, and active therapy is started when predefined threshold values are reached. This concept makes it possible to offer curative treatment to individuals who are at high risk for disease progression as indicated by active surveillance parameters.
What Makes Prostate Cancer Become Aggressive Study Investigates
They suggest that the finding could help predict disease aggressiveness, improve personalized treatments, and open the door to precision medicine for advanced prostate cancer.
In a study paper now published in the journal Cell, they describe how they investigated a genomic variant known to be linked to aggressive prostate cancer.
Using state-of-the-art tools, they confirmed the link in a large group of people with prostate cancer.
They also identified how the variant influences a genetic circuit involving three genes that could potentially drive the disease to an incurable stage.
The genomic variant is a difference in a DNA building block located in chromosome 19q13 that is known as the single nucleotide polymorphism rs11672691.
Previous studies had already linked this particular variant to aggressive prostate cancer. But they did not explain how the link worked.
Comparing the order in which millions of DNA building blocks occur in the human genomes of any two individuals would reveal hardly any differences. But where they do occur, these differences or variants can give rise to disease.
How human genomic variants, says senior study author Gong-Hong Wei, a professor in the Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at the University of Oulu in Finland, cause disease and its progression is in general one of the most compelling puzzles and questions in medicine.
Read Also: Do Females Have Prostate
What Are The Symptoms Of Bph And Prostate Cancer
BPH and prostate cancer have similar symptoms, so its sometimes hard to tell the two conditions apart. As the prostate grows for any reason, it squeezes the urethra. This pressure prevents urine from getting down your urethra and out of your body. Prostate cancer symptoms often dont start until the cancer has grown large enough to put pressure on the urethra.
Symptoms of both BPH and prostate cancer include:
- an urgent need to urinate
- feeling the urge to urinate many times during the day and night
- trouble starting to urinate or having to push to release urine
- weak or dribbling urine stream
- urine flow that stops and starts
- feeling like your bladder is never fully empty
If you have prostate cancer, you might also notice these symptoms:
- painful or burning urination
How Quickly Does Prostate Cancer Spread
Prostate cancer is a cancer that develops in the prostate gland in men and it is one of the most common types of cancer. It is usually seen in men over the age of 50. The prostate is a small walnut-shaped gland in men, which produces seminal fluid required to nourish and transport the sperm. Prostate cancer is a slow-growing cancer and, more often, it is confined to the prostate gland, requiring minimal or no treatment.
In some cases, it can take up to eight years to spread from the prostate to other parts of the body , typically the bones. In many cases, prostate cancer does not affect the mans natural life span.
However, certain types of prostate cancer can be aggressive and spread quickly to other parts of the body. If prostate cancer is detected early and is confined to the prostate gland, the prognosis is excellent.
You May Like: How Are Fiducial Markers Placed In The Prostate
How Active Surveillance Works
The Gleason score is just one way that doctors monitor prostate cancer during active surveillance. They also do periodic follow-up biopsies and measure PSA levels, which may rise if cancer starts to spread in the prostate. Doctors may recommend treatment sooner if PSA begins to rise quickly or if a follow up biopsy reveals a higher Gleason score or more widespread cancer within the prostate. Its an inexact science that depends on a doctors skill and experience and a mans willingness to wait for signs that a cancer poses a clear threat before opting for treatment and its potential for side effects.
Penney says she and her Harvard colleagues are among the many scientists now searching for better ways to predict which prostate cancers are likely to be lethal and which can be monitored and not treated. The answer may be found in genetic changes in prostate cancer cells that signal a higher threat. But finding a better way to predict which prostate cancers are likely to turn lethal is far from guaranteed.
Some believe its not possible, Penney says. After the cancer is diagnosed, so many things can change in unknown ways. Diet, exercise, and other lifestyle factors, for example, could affect whether low-risk prostate cancers become more aggressive or threatening over time.
Small Cell Prostate Cancer
Small cell prostate cancer is a subset of neuroendocrine cancer. It is made up of small round cells.
It is a high-grade malignant neoplasm, which is rare and affects less than 1% of the population. It is extremely lethal.
It is one of the most aggressive malignancies of the prostate with a survival rate of 1-2 years from the time it is diagnosed.
Don’t Miss: Ejaculation Problems With Tamsulosin
Where Do These Numbers Come From
The American Cancer Society relies on information from the SEER database, maintained by the National Cancer Institute , to provide survival statistics for different types of cancer.
The SEER database tracks 5-year relative survival rates for prostate cancer in the United States, based on how far the cancer has spread. The SEER database, however, does not group cancers by AJCC TNM stages . Instead it groups cancers into localized, regional, and distant stages.
- Localized: There is no sign that the cancer has spread outside the prostate.
- Regional: The cancer has spread outside the prostate to nearby structures or lymph nodes.
- Distant: The cancer has spread to parts of the body farther from the prostate, such as the lungs, liver, or bones.
Prostate Cancer Lives As It Is Born: Slow
- By Daniel Pendick, Former Executive Editor, Harvard Men’s Health Watch
This year, more than 238,000 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. In most cases, the cancer consists of small knots of abnormal cells growing slowly in the walnut-sized prostate gland. In many men, the cancer cells grow so slowly that they never break free of the gland, spread to distant sites, and pose a serious risk to health and longevity.
Evidence is growing that early treatment with surgery or radiation prevents relatively few men from ultimately dying from prostate cancer, while leaving many with urinary or erectile problems and other side effects. As a result, more men may be willing to consider a strategy called active surveillance, in which doctors monitor low-risk cancers closely and consider treatment only when the disease appears to make threatening moves toward growing and spreading.
This week, a study by Harvard researchers found that the aggressiveness of prostate cancer at diagnosis appears to remain stable over time for most men. If thats true, then prompt treatment can be reserved for the cancers most likely to pose a threat, whereas men can reasonably choose to watch and wait in other cases.
If you have chosen active surveillance, then this could possibly make you feel more confident in your decision, says Kathryn L. Penney, Sc.D., instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School and the lead author of a report published today in the journal Cancer Research.
Don’t Miss: Is Zinc Good For Prostate
What Is Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer only affects men. Cancer begins to develop in the prostate a gland in a mans reproductive system. The word prostate comes from Medieval Latin prostate and Medieval French prostate. The ancient Greek word prostates means one standing in front, from proistanai meaning set before. The prostate is so called because of where it is at the base of the bladder.
The prostate is an exocrine gland of the male reproductive system, and exists directly under the bladder, in front of the rectum. An exocrine gland is one whose secretions end up outside the body e.g. prostate gland and sweat glands. It is approximately the size of a walnut.
The urethra a tube that goes from the bladder to the end of the penis and carries urine and semen out of the body goes through the prostate.
There are thousands of very small glands in the prostate they all produce a fluid that forms part of the semen. This fluid also protects and nourishes the sperm. When a male has an orgasm the seminal-vesicles secrete a milky liquid in which the semen travels. The liquid is produced in the prostate gland, while the sperm is kept and produced in the testicles. When a male climaxes contractions force the prostate to secrete this fluid into the urethra and leave the body through the penis.
It is a myth to think that a high blood-PSA level is harmful to you it is not. High blood PSA levels are however an indication that something may be wrong in the prostate.
Surgery For Aggressive Prostate Cancer Gives 92% 10
Patients with the most aggressive form of prostate cancer who have surgery radical prostatectomy were found to have a 10-year cancer-specific survival rate of 92%, which is high, and a 77% overall survival rate, according to researchers from the Fox Chase Cancer Center and the Mayo Clinic, USA. This compares to an 88% 10-year cancer specific survival rate and 52% overall survival rate for those who underwent radiotherapy without surgery. The findings were presented at the American Urological Associations 84th Annual Meeting, Chicago.
Stephen Boorjian, M.D., a urologist at the Mayo Clinic, said:
Its long been believed that patients with aggressive prostate cancer are not candidates for surgery. We found that surgery does provide excellent long-term cancer control for this type of prostate cancer. In addition, by allowing the targeted use of secondary therapies such as androgen deprivation, surgery offers the opportunity to avoid or at least delay the potentially adverse health consequences of these treatments.
Their study included 1,847 individuals with aggressive prostate cancer. Between 1988 and 2004 1,238 of them underwent a surgical procedure to have their prostate taken out at the Mayo Clinic, while 609 received radiotherapy at the Fox Chase Cancer Center. 344 of the patients who received radiotherapy were also given androgen deprivation therapy.
The investigators worked out their overall and cancer-specific survival rates:
Dr. Boorjian said:
You May Like: Testicular Cancer Awareness Color