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Where Can Prostate Cancer Spread Too

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Symptoms Of Advanced Prostate Cancer

Prostate Cancer and Bone Metastasis

If you are worried about prostate cancer, we have more information about the signs and symptoms.

Symptoms of prostate cancer may not develop for many years. The symptoms of advanced prostate cancer may be caused by an enlarged prostate. Or symptoms may be a sign of secondary cancer, where the cancer has spread to another part of the body.

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Where Can I Find Support

It can be very difficult to deal with a diagnosis of advanced prostate cancer. Its natural to wonder if youre doing all you can to fight the cancer and how to handle guilt, intimacy with a partner, and concerns about masculinity. And finding and paying for the best care can, of course, be a challenge.

But emotional and practical support can help you move forward. An important thing to remember is that youre not alone. There are many kinds of help available, and the right cancer resources can make a world of difference.

Ask your doctor for resources you can contact, including social workers and support systems in your community. The Patient Navigator Program of the ACS can be reached at 1-800-227-2345 youll be connected to a patient navigator at a cancer treatment center who can help you with practical and emotional issues.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation has links to in-person and online support groups around the country, and the ACS lists nationwide support programs as well. The PCF also offers resources ranging from help with housing during cancer treatment to finding ways you can look good and feel better while living with cancer.

What Is Prostate Cancer

Cancer can start any place in the body. Prostate cancer starts in the prostate gland. It starts when cells in the prostate grow out of control.

Cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body. Cancer cells in the prostate can sometimes travel to the bones or other organs and grow there. When cancer cells do this, its called metastasis. To doctors, the cancer cells in the new place look just like the ones from the prostate.

Cancer is always named for the place where it starts. So when prostate cancer spreads to the bones , its still called prostate cancer. Its not called bone cancer unless it starts from cells in the bone.

Ask your doctor to use this picture to show you where your cancer is.

The prostate

The prostate is a gland found only in men, so only men can get prostate cancer.

The prostate is just below the bladder and in front of the rectum . The tube that carries pee goes through the prostate. The prostate makes some of the fluid that helps keep the sperm alive and healthy.

There are a few types of prostate cancer. Some are very rare. Most prostate cancers are a type called adenocarcinoma. This cancer starts from gland cells. Your doctor can tell you more about the type you have.

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What Are The Symptoms Of Metastatic Cancer

The symptoms of metastatic cancer vary greatly depending on the type of cancer and where it has spread. For cancer that has spread to the brain, common symptoms include headaches, seizures, and vision problems. For cancer that has spread to the liver, people may have jaundice , swelling in the legs, fatigue, weight loss, or loss of appetite.

In some instances, the cancer may spread after a person has already been treated for the original tumor. Metastatic tumors may appear months or even years after first treatments. In other cases, people may not be aware of having cancer at all until they notice symptoms from metastatic tumors.

What Are Next Steps

Can a biopsy spread prostate cancer?

Bone metastasis have a profound effect on the long-term outlook for prostate cancer. But its important to remember that the numbers are only statistics.

The good news is that life expectancy for advanced prostate cancer continues to increase. New treatments and therapies offer both longer life and better quality of life. Speak to your doctor about your treatment options and long-term outlook.

Everyones cancer experience is different. You may find support through sharing your treatment plan with friends and family. Or you can turn to local community groups or online forums like Male Care for advice and reassurance.

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Side Effects Of Hormone Therapy

  • Hot flushes. In most men treated with hormonal therapy for metastatic prostate cancer, hot flushes are fairly limited. If you are especially troubled by hot flushes, ask your doctor about medications that can help, such as low doses of female hormones or antidepressants such as venlafaxine or sertraline .
  • Osteoporosis . Lowered testosterone levels lead to a loss of calcium, which may cause osteoporosis . Treatment with bisphosphonates, such as zoledronic acid or denosumab can help reverse the effects of osteoporosis, reducing pain and lowering the risk of fractures.
  • Weight gain. When mens testosterone levels go down, their metabolism can change, causing them to retain fluid and gain weight. Hormone treatments can result in a loss of muscle mass. Stay active by walking, doing chores, and engaging in physical activities you enjoy. Weight training can also help build and maintain muscle strength and structure. Be sure to consult with your health care team before beginning any exercise program.

What Happens When Prostate Cancer Is Left Untreated

Doru Paul, MD, is triple board-certified in medical oncology, hematology, and internal medicine. He is an associate professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and attending physician in the Department of Hematology and Oncology at the New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center.

While most men undergo some form of treatment for their prostate cancer, some men today choose to not be treated for their prostate cancer. Instead, they may choose to have their doctors monitor their cancer.

Known as active surveillance, it is common when the cancer is expected to grow slowly based on biopsy results, confined to the prostate, not causing any symptoms, and/or small. In active surveillance, doctors will initiate cancer treatment only if cancer starts growing.

Others men may choose to not undergo cancer treatment because of a short life expectancy or other serious medical problems. They may feel that the risks or side effects of cancer treatment outweigh their potential benefits.

This option is certainly OK and reasonable in the right circumstancesrequiring a careful and thoughtful discussion with your doctor and family.

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Sexual Intercourse And Other Risk Factors Of Prostate Cancer

Sexual Intercourse and Prostate Cancer risk factors are not relevant.

So the answer to the question If having sex with a person with prostate cancer risky is in negative.

However, the study at several medical schools, shows that men with high sexual activity and frequent ejaculation are at lower risk of prostate cancer.

Study shows that men who have in average 4 to 7 ejaculation per week up to the age of 70 are 36% less at risk of prostate cancer comparing to the one who have 2 to 3 times sex per week.

Such a risk of sexual transmitted disease,; whether it is through intimate contact like kissing, intercourse or oral sex are not relevant.

Quality Of Life With Advanced Stage Prostate Cancer

Understanding Prostate Cancer

Since Huggins and Hodges won a Nobel Prize in 1966 for their work describing the relationship between testosterone and prostate cancer, androgen deprivation has continued to be an important component in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. It is associated, however, with significant cost in terms of morbidity as well as economics. Side effects of androgen deprivation therapy include hot flashes, osteoporosis, loss of libido or impotence, and psychological effects such as depression, memory difficulties, or emotional lability. Recently Harle and colleagues reported insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, metabolic syndrome, and metabolic complications being associated with castration and thus being responsible for increased cardiovascular mortality in this population.

Because of the palliative nature of androgen ablation, quality of life is an important component of evaluating competing therapies. Intermittent androgen deprivation is one approach to hormonal therapy that has been developed with the aim of minimizing the negative effects of therapy while maximizing clinical benefits and the patients quality of life. It can be used in any clinical situation where continuous androgen deprivation treatment could be applied.

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What Will Happen After Treatment

Youll be glad when treatment is over. But its hard not to worry about cancer coming back. When cancer comes back it is called a recurrence. Even when cancer never comes back, people still worry about it. For years after treatment ends, you will see your cancer doctor. At first, your visits may be every few months. Then, the longer youre cancer-free, the less often the visits are needed.

Be sure to go to all follow-up visits. Your doctors will ask about your symptoms, examine you, and might order blood tests and maybe other tests to see if the cancer has come back.

Having cancer and dealing with treatment can be hard, but it can also be a time to look at your life in new ways. You might be thinking about how to improve your health. Call us at 1-800-227-2345 or talk to your doctor to find out what you can do to feel better.

You cant change the fact that you have cancer. What you can change is how you live the rest of your life,;making healthy choices and feeling as good as you can.

Surgery As A Form Of Hormone Therapy

Another way to stop the testicles from producing male hormones is an orchiectomy, a surgical procedure in which the testicles are removed. The removal of the testicles causes most prostate cancers to stop growing or to shrink. In an orchiectomy, the scrotum and penis are left intact.

An orchiectomy is done as an outpatient procedure. While it is probably the simplest form of hormone therapy, some men have trouble accepting the change to their anatomy. However, the insertion of artificial testicles into the scrotum is an option to discuss with the surgeon who is performing the procedure.

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Can I Survive Advanced Prostate Cancer Whats The Prognosis

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancer in men, according to the National Cancer Institute. While theres no cure, men can live with it for years if they get the right treatment. Each man with advanced prostate cancer is different, of course. You and your cancer have unique qualities that your doctor takes into consideration when planning the best treatment strategy for you.

According to Harvard Medical School, the prognosis for men with advanced prostate cancer is improving because of newer medications that help them get past a resistance to androgen-deprivation therapy that typically develops after a few years of treatment. With these medications, many men are living longer, and a number of men diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer are dying with the cancer, not from it.

Promptly treating prostate cancer bone metastases with the newest medication can help change a mans prognosis dramatically, Tagawa says. There are men who do well for decades, he says. Some men can even stop treatment, go on to live many years, and actually die of something unrelated.

Tagawa says that cancer specialists who use sophisticated imaging technologies, like positron-emission tomography scans, have gotten very good at finding even tiny bone metastases, which is valuable in diagnosing and removing early stage metastases.

What Is Metastatic Prostate Cancer

Prostate Cancer Spread Metastatic to Bones Life Expectancy ...

Sometimes cancer cells will escape the prostate and grow quickly, spreading to nearby tissue, or metastasizing. Nearby lymph nodes are often the first destination for a spreading cancer. If prostate cancer has spread to your lymph nodes when it is diagnosed, it means that there is higher chance that it has spread to other areas of the body as well.

If and when prostate cancer cells gain access to the bloodstream, they can be deposited in various sites throughout the body, most commonly in bones, and more rarely to other organs such as the liver, lung, or brain. Bone metastases are seen in 85% to 90% of metastatic cases.

No matter where a cancer turns up in the body, it is always identified by the tissue type in which it started. Prostate cancer can metastasize to other organs, but it is always prostate cancer, because it consists of mutated prostate cells.

Men diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer , will often not undergo local treatments of the primary prostate tumor, such as surgery or radiation. Instead, their therapeutic journey might start with hormone therapy, and from there follow a similar path as men who were diagnosed at an earlier stage and had subsequent disease progression.

Want more information about a prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment options? Download or order a print copy of the Prostate Cancer Patient Guide.

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Why Prostate Cancer May Return

Prostatectomy as a treatment option for prostate cancer is usually chosen by men who have localized prostate cancer; that is, it has not spread beyond the prostate gland. Therefore, the hope is that removal of the prostate will also rid the body of prostate cancer cells. A prostatectomy can be performed as either a traditional open surgery, a laparoscopic procedure, or as a robot-assisted approach . Most men who are candidates for traditional open prostatectomy can have a laparoscopic or robotic prostatectomy.

While recovery times and the risk of postoperative symptoms and complications differ depending on which type of prostatectomy you choose, the burning question after surgery is whether the cancer will come back. You may wonder how prostate cancer can recur if the diseased prostate has been removed.

Although a man may have prostate cancer that appears to be entirely localized , it is possible for some prostate cancer cells to migrate outside the prostate and beyond the surgical area, which includes not only the prostate but the tissue surrounding it that is removed during surgery.

For men who have a prostatectomy and whose prostate cancer is limited to the prostate and whose tissue surrounding their prostate and lymph nodes are free of migrating prostate cancer cells, survival is similar to that of a man who never had the disease at all. However, then there are men who have rogue cancer cells, and they face the possibility of needing to treat recurring prostate cancer.

Where Does Prostate Cancer Spread

The most common place for prostate cancer to spread to is the bones. It can also spread to the lymph nodes, liver and lungs and other organs.

A large tumour in the prostate gland can spread into or press on areas around the prostate, such as the back passage or urethra. The urethra is the tube which carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body.

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Treatment Options For Prostate Cancer Recurrence

The two treatment options for prostate cancer that has recurred after prostatectomy are radiation and hormone therapy. Some physicians recommend radiation therapy alone, while others suggest a combination of radiation and hormone therapy. In many cases, physicians suggest starting radiation therapy for prostate cancer when the PSA level rises above 0.2 ng/mL and remains there for two consecutive readings. Hormone therapy often is not started unless the PSA level rises above 0.4 ng/mL, however, each case is unique and so you need to consult with your healthcare provider.

Husband Dx With Prostate And Pancreatic Cancer

Prostate Cancer Myths | Ask a Prostate Cancer Expert, Mark Scholz, MD

He has been with Prostate Cancer since 2012 and then it spread.; Went on Lupron which slowed it down.; On cat scan found pancreatic cancer.; NOV. 2017,; Surgery to remove tumor and half his pancreas on 1/3/17 Found some in 3 lymphnodes. Tumor grew back on other half of panreas and into his liver within a month.; Now on chemo 46 hours on every other Monday..; Palliative.; I talk to myself alot, know what to expect AND THEN DON’T.;;;He forces himself to go to work when he can and I do not want to discourage him from anything.; Don’t always know what to say when he gets down.; ;The whole thing is scary,..Thank you for this forum..

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What Are Bone Metastases With Prostate Cancer

The ACS describes bone metastases as areas of bone containing cancer cells that have spread from another place in the body. In the case of prostate cancer, the cells have spread beyond the prostate gland. Since the cancer cells originated in the prostate gland, the cancer is referred to as metastatic prostate cancer.

The cancer cells spread to the bones by breaking away from the prostate gland and escaping attack from your immune system as they travel to your bones.

These cancer cells then grow new tumors in your bones. Cancer can spread to any bone in the body, but the spine is most often affected. Other areas cancer cells commonly travel to, according to the ACS, include the pelvis, upper legs and arms, and the ribs.

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Questions To Ask Your Doctor Or Nurse

  • What type of hormone therapy are you offering me and why?
  • Are there other treatments I can have?
  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of my treatment?
  • What treatments and support are available to help manage side effects?
  • Are there any lifestyle changes that might help me manage my cancer, symptoms, or side effects?
  • How often will I have check-ups and what will this involve?
  • How will we know if my cancer starts to grow again?
  • What other treatments are available if that happens?
  • Can I join any clinical trials?
  • If I have any questions or get any new symptoms, who should I contact?

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