One of the biggest reasons why prostate cancer can be so deadly is because it is often not found until it is in a later stage. During the early stages of prostate cancer, there are not many warning signs and symptoms that a person will notice.
Prostate cancer screening and knowing the signals of prostate cancer can save your life. If you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, learn more about the advanced treatments available to you.
Signals of Prostate Cancer and Advanced Treatment
Advanced prostate cancer also known as metastatic prostate cancer means it is spreading to other areas of the body. It is important to know the signals of prostate cancer whether you are recently diagnosed or currently in treatment.
Remember, cancer behaves differently based on genetic risk factors. Not every person is going to have the same prostate cancer symptoms. People experience symptoms in different ways.
Possible Symptoms and Warning Signs of Prostate Cancer
Urinary or bladder issues
Urinary and bladder issues are very common signs of prostate cancer. This occurs when a tumor grows in size and starts to press on the urethra and your bladder. The bladder is a common place for prostate cancer to spread.
Common signs/urinary symptoms of those with prostate cancer may include the feeling or need to urinate frequently, or blood in the urine or semen. They may experience incontinence, being unable to pass anything, or a painful or burning sensation during urination.
Losing bowel control
While it is not common, prostate cancer can spread to the bowel. If the cancer spreads to the bowel a person might experience stomach pain, blood in the stool, or constipation.
Groin Soreness
There are several lymph nodes located in the groin and these are closest to the prostate. It is common for this type of cancer to spread into these lymph nodes. If it does you might experience soreness or pain in this area.
Leg Swelling
As the cancer spreads and crowds out healthier cells in the body, tumors might start to press in areas such as the spinal cord. This can cause you to experience pain, tingling, or swelling in the feet and legs.
Hip and Back Pain
Prostate cancer often spreads to the bones. Since the hips and back are close to the prostate, these are the areas where you might start to experience bone pain first. The cancer can cause the bones to become brittle and possibly break more easily than they normally would. If the cancer spreads to the bones it can be quite painful and will often require treatment in order to help manage the pain.
Tests for Prostate Cancer
Catching prostate cancer early is important before it spreads to other areas of the body. However, most often people do not experience any symptoms until the cancer has started to spread. A simple blood test called prostate-specific antigen (PSA) can be done. This is why it is important to have a prostate examination done routinely.
If you are experiencing the symptoms or signs of prostate cancer, a biopsy might be recommended. During the biopsy, your doctor will remove a sample of cells that are suspicious and have them tested in a lab.
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
Tests may show this health issue. BPH is the enlargement of the prostate gland but is not cancer. It comes with some similar symptoms such as frequent urination, weak urine stream, and sometimes sexual or erectile dysfunction. Learn more about BPH.
Treatments
Later-stage prostate cancer treatments can help to slow the growth of the cancer and possibly extend your life. However, if the cancer has reached stage 4 it often cannot be cured. Some of the treatment options available include:
Hormone Therapy
This type of therapy will stop the body from producing testosterone. Since prostate cancer cells need testosterone to grow, cutting off the supply may slow the growth or cause the cancer to shrink.
There are several forms of hormone therapy including medications that will stop the body from producing testosterone. Unfortunately, the cancer cells will often adapt to hormone therapy and then start to grow once again.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy uses high-powered energy beams such as protons and x-rays to kill the cancer cells. A large machine will move around the body and direct these beams of energy to areas where the cancer is located. Radiation therapy is often combined with hormone therapy when cancer has spread to the lymph nodes.
Surgery
Surgery is another option and will remove the testicles. In the late stages of prostate cancer, surgery is not often used as a form of treatment. However, experts recommend it in some situations.
Most often, surgery is for those men who are having difficulty passing urine and the surgery can alleviate some of this pain. A prostatectomy will remove the prostate and the cancer that has grown near it. If the cancer has not spread, surgery may be the best option to treat prostate cancer.
Palliative Care
Supportive or palliative is care is focused on providing relief from symptoms and pain of a serious illness. A specialist will work with you to provide you with support during your ongoing medical care. When this type of care is used with other appropriate treatments, patients with cancer often feel better and will live for longer.
Visit the American Cancer Society for more reading and resources.
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