Prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia or PIN is a condition in which cells from the prostate begin to look and behave abnormally. Each year around 16% of men who undergo a prostate biopsy will find out they have PIN which is essentially a precancerous condition and therefore is not prostate cancer.
Read MoreAlong with receiving a diagnosis of prostate cancer, comes new medical terminology that is likely unfamiliar to most men. One of the terms a man will hear is what is called a Gleason score. In 1966, a grading system for prostate cancer was developed by Dr. Donald Gleason. The Gleason score, still bearing his name today, is a system used to grade the aggressiveness of prostate cancer tissue.
Read MoreProstate cancer feeds on androgens – male hormones, like testosterone. A common tactic in the battle against prostate cancer is to deprive the cancer of the androgens it craves via androgen deprivation therapy. It won't kill the cancer, but it can slow it down, and against prostate cancer which usually moves glacially anyway, slowing it even more is often enough to checkmate it.
Read MoreProstate cancer, like all cancers, has the potential to spread or metastasize to other parts of the body. If and when it does, it will typically affect the structures within the immediate area. Most likely prostate cancer will spread to the bones or lymph nodes near the prostate. Other structures of the body it could possibly spread to include the seminal vesicles, urinary bladder, liver, intestines, and rarely, the brain.
Read MoreWhat if you could suppress the genes which “turned on” prostate cancer? What if you could suppress the prostate cancer genes by eating certain foods?
Read MoreAsk any man “what does your prostate gland do” and some may be able to answer with one or two functions while others may simply shrug their shoulders indicating “I don’t know.” What may surprise many men is the variety and number of tasks this small gland performs. The size of a walnut, the prostate gland is located in front of the rectum and just below the bladder surrounding the urethra. Over the course of a day, it has plenty of things to do keeping it busy.
Read MoreDoctors continue to study the relationship between vasectomies and prostate cancer risk. And men, it should come as no surprise, continue to pay close attention.
Read MoreFor men who want to take prostate health into their own hands, have we got news for you! Studies indicate the more you ejaculate, the lower is your risk of prostate cancer.
Read MoreProstate specific antigen (PSA) is a protein produced by cells of the prostate gland in men. A man may have a PSA blood test measuring the level of PSA in a man’s blood with the results reported as nanograms of PSA per milliliter (ng/ml) of blood. A normal PSA level is considered to be between 1.0 and 4.0 ng/ml. If the number is above 4.0, the level is considered abnormal or elevated.
Read MoreEveryone most likely knows of a man in their life who has had prostate cancer. What many people may not be as aware of is just how common it is. Other than non-melanoma skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United States. It is also the second leading cause of cancer death in American men, with lung cancer ranked as the leading cause.
Read MoreOne of the methods of treatment for prostate cancer is with radiation therapy. This can be used alone or in combination with hormonal treatment for treating prostate cancer. Radiation is sometimes used after prostate cancer surgery as another option to destroy any remaining cancer cells and to relive pain from metastatic cancer. Using radiation is most effective when the cancer has not spread beyond the prostate even though it can still be used if the cancer has spread to other nearby tissue.
Read MoreThere are many weapons in our arsenal in the war on prostate cancer, and we will use many of them at the same time.
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