cancer clinic
Cancer Immunity Clinic
01
Causes
Prostate cancer doesn't have definite discovered causes. However, it is known that genetic, environmental factors act importantly as below:
ㆍProstate cancer's frequency of occurrence is vary depending on race, ethnicity, or family history.
ㆍEnvironment aspect is also highly related.
ㆍEspecially, it is assume that eating habits of meat & high-fat diet highly affect
02
Symptoms
The size of prostate cancer is small and there is few symptoms at its early stages.
When prostate cancer progressed significantly, there are feelings of discomfort such as dysuria(troubling urinating), oliguria(frequent urination), hematuria(blood in urine), pain while urinating, weak flow, difficulty in starting to urinate, straining while urinating, feeling that the bladder has not emptied fully, etc. When prostate cancer spreads to other organs, especially to the pelvis or spine bones, there is acute bone pain and severe paralysis of lower part of body or pathological fracture may accompany.
03
Diagnostic Tests
| Type of Cancer | Examination Method | Advantages of Examinination | Disadvantages of Examination |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prostate cancer | DRE(Digital rectal examination) | It is simple and cheap. | It has high rate of false negative. |
| PSA test | It is a simple blood test. | It has high rate of false positive. | |
| Endorectal Ultrasound | It is the most accurate. | The cost is high. |
04
Treatments
The progression of prostate cancer is not predictable, so treatment should depend on the patient's individual circumstances, such as age, other associated diseases, tumor stage.
When the size of prostate cancer is not large enough,, topical therapy is fundamental while metastatic cancer should be treated using systemic treatment.
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Surgery Open, larparoscopic, or robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (removal of cancer in prostate) Cryotherapy (procedure to freeze prostate and casue the cancer cells to die)
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Radiotherapy It is usually done for 7 weeks. Three dimensional radiotherapy which irradiates on the prostate, and brachytherapy which radiation dose is delivered inside the prostate gland are performed.
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Expectant treatment It is used on some patients in order to observe if cancer is progressing, and with regular intervals, those patients undergo digital-rectal examination, serum prostate-specific antigen level measurement, prostate ultrasonography with regular intervals. It is intended for the patients who are expected to live less that 10 years due to their age or associated illness, who are over the age of 70, have well-differentiated cancer cells, and when cancer size is small. Also it is intended for the patients whose prostate cancer is limited in prostate but treatment has not been decided.
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Hormone Therapy When cancer spreads to bones or other organs, hormone therapy is began to perform. It is used to slow the progression of cancer and to prolong the patient's life rather than to cure prostate cancer. Hormone therapy may cause erectile dysfunction and decrease of sexual desire.
05
Prevention
Prostate cancer usually does not have any specific symptoms at its early stages, so it is difficult to be detected with patients' subjective symptoms.
Undergoing PSA(Prostate-Specific Antigen) testing and digital-rectal examination annually is the best way to early detect prostate cancer.
Especially, those men who have a prostate patient in the family members, it is recommended to have annual checkups from the age of 40.