Prostate Cancer
What is Prostate Cancer?
Cancers are named after the part of the body where they start. Prostate cancer occurs when cells in the prostate start to grow uncontrollably. In general, men with prostate cancer have several small tumours in the prostate.
What You Should Know
• 25,500 men will be diagnosed with PC this year alone (2009).
• 4,400 men will die of the disease this year.
• During his lifetime, 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with the disease.
• Prostate cancer is the most common cancer to afflict Canadian men.
• Rates of prostate cancer in men are comparable to rates of breast cancer in women.
• The incidence of prostate cancer is increasing due to the aging of the population.
• Over 90% of prostate cancer cases are curable if detected and treated in their earliest stages.
• It is a far greater threat for those with a family history of prostate cancer.
• Prostate cancer is turning up in men in their 40s.
• Prostate cancer develops as a result of dietary, environmental and heredity factors but more research is needed to identify its causes and prevent the disease.
• Prostate cancer has no symptoms in its earliest, most curable stage – so if you are 40 years old, we recommend you talk to your doctor about a prostate examination, including a digital rectal exam (DRE) and a prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test.
• Thought to be a potentially preventable cancer in many cases, but more research is needed and government support for this research is inadequate.
Cure rates
In the early stages, when the cancer cells are only in the prostate, the disease is very curable (cure rates of 95% or better) with surgery or radiation. Unfortunately, during the early stages of prostate cancer there are few symptoms. In fact, many men in the early stages of prostate cancer have no symptoms at all. Without regular testing (PSA & DRE), it is very difficult to find early stage prostate cancer.
If untreated, prostate cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body and produce secondary tumours (metastases). At this point, the chances of a cure are much lower. Prostate cancer can spread to any part of the body but common areas for spread are bones and lymph nodes.
Good news and bad news
The good news is that in most cases, prostate tumours grow relatively slowly. It usually takes years for tumours to become large enough to be detectable and it takes even longer for them to spread out of the prostate.
The bad news is that a small number of men have aggressive prostate cancers that grow and spread quickly. At diagnosis, it is tough to know which category a man falls into and this can make treatment decisions hard.
Find out more about prostate cancer at Prostate Cancer Canada’s website: www.prostatecancer.ca
