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Early detection of prostate cancer is crucial, as it often has no symptoms in early stages. Regular screening can help catch prostate cancer early, and there are various treatment options, from active surveillance to minimally invasive methods.
Main Points:
- Importance of screening: Prostate cancer often lacks early symptoms, making screening vital.
- Risk factors: Age, genetics, lifestyle, and diet can increase prostate cancer risk.
- Potential symptoms in later stages, although none are limited to prostate cancer alone: Urinary changes, blood in urine, erectile dysfunction, bone pain.
- Treatment options: Active monitoring, surgery, radiation, and minimally invasive options like laser focal therapy.
Prostate cancer is the second-most common cancer found in men, according to the American Cancer Society.
While about one in eight men will experience prostate cancer, this disease has few distinct symptoms, especially in its early stages. Additionally, symptoms associated with prostate cancer can also be caused by other prostate issues, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
Screening is the best path to identifying prostate cancer before it advances or spreads in the body. However, learning about the symptoms of prostate cancer can help patients become more informed.
Keep reading to learn more about the warning signs of prostate cancer, as well as treatment options.
Understanding Prostate Cancer
Learning about the prostate and about prostate cancer is foundational for making informed choices about prostate health. That’s true when making a decision about prostate cancer screening and, for those diagnosed with prostate cancer, when choosing a treatment option.
Before taking a closer look at the warning signs of prostate cancer and why screening is so important, let’s review some basic facts about this gland and this disease that commonly affects it.
The prostate is a gland, roughly the size of a walnut, that surrounds the urethra. It sits underneath the bladder and in front of the rectum.
The primary role of the prostate is to produce fluid that contributes to semen. Additionally, the prostate helps to propel semen through the urethra and out of the body during ejaculation. This gland also serves as a switch between urination and ejaculation.
Prostate cancer is the result of uncontrolled growth of prostate cells within. While many prostate cancers grow slowly, some can grow quickly. If left untreated, prostate cancer can spread in the area surrounding the prostate and throughout the body.
It’s important to note that prostate cancer is distinct from the natural growth of the prostate that happens as men age, which is called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). This growth occurs in almost all men, as the National Library of Medicine explains, and is not related to prostate cancer. However, it can cause various quality-of-life issues, like difficulty urinating.
Prostate Cancer Causes and Risk Factors
The exact causes of prostate cancer are not yet known, as the National Library of Medicine explains. However, certain risk factors can make prostate cancer more likely.
These risk factors include:
- Age. Prostate cancer is more likely to develop in older men, including healthy men. According to the American Cancer Society, roughly 6 in every 10 prostate cancers are diagnosed in men ages 65 and older.
- Family history. People face an increased risk of prostate cancer if a blood relative has or had this disease.
- Inherited gene mutations. Certain genes increase the risk of prostate cancer.
- Race and ethnicity. Men of African descent have a higher risk of prostate cancer.
- Diet. Consuming red meats, alcohol, processed meats, dairy, and saturated fats can increase the risk of prostate cancer.
- Other lifestyle choices. Smoking and obesity can lead to a higher risk of prostate cancer.
Why Prostate Cancer Screening is Crucial & Key Signs of Prostate Cancer
The Importance of Early Detection for Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer does not normally show symptoms in its early stages. Symptoms normally appear after the disease has begun to spread in the body.
The lack of symptoms makes early detection through prostate cancer screening especially important. Without other early warning signs for prostate cancer, screening is the only way to identify this disease early on.
Localized (within the prostate) and regional (limited to structures around the prostate) cancers have very high 5-year relative survival rates, as the American Cancer Society details.
A relative 5-year survival rate indicates how likely it is for a person with a given disease to live for five years on average compared to a person without that disease. Both localized and regional prostate cancer have a relative 5-year survival rate of greater than 99%. When prostate cancer has spread to other areas of the body, that rate drops to 34%.
Treating prostate cancer in its early stages can stop or slow its spread to distant areas of the body. Frontline screening measures, such as prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, play a crucial role in assessing risk. They help determine if further testing, such as multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) and MRI-guided biopsy of the prostate, is warranted.
Screening should be an individual choice. We recommend that otherwise healthy men should consider starting annual screening with a doctor with prostate cancer experience starting at age 45.
Symptoms of Prostate Cancer
Symptoms that can eventually appear as prostate cancer advances include the following. Remember that while these symptoms can be a sign of prostate cancer, they do not guarantee that you have this disease. The best course of action when experiencing the following symptoms is to discuss them with a physician.
Difficulty Urinating and Changes in Urinary Habits
Prostate cancer can lead to issues related to urination, such as a weak urine stream and a frequent need to urinate. These symptoms are commonly caused by other prostate issues, such as BPH and prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate) as the Prostate Cancer Foundation explains.
Blood in Urine or Semen
The presence of blood or urine in semen may indicate prostate cancer or several other, and often serious, medical issues. This symptom warrants immediate attention from a physician.
Erectile Dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction (ED) can be caused by a variety of issues, including prostate cancer. Common causes for ED shared by the Mayo Clinic range from heart disease and diabetes to obesity and depression.
Bone Pain
Bone pain can indicate that prostate cancer has spread in the body. This is another reminder that early detection is crucial for prostate cancer, as this symptom only appears with the advanced form of this disease.
However, there are many causes of bone pain, and it is not a confirmation of prostate cancer or other cancer by itself.
Pain when Ejaculating
Painful ejaculation could be a sign that prostate cancer has advanced in the prostate, as Johns Hopkins Medicine points out. However, as with the other symptoms listed, this symptom does not confirm the presence of prostate cancer by itself.
Treatment Options for Prostate Cancer
If prostate cancer is detected through screening, what treatment options are available? Evidence-based treatments for prostate cancer include:
Active Surveillance and Monitoring
Active prostate cancer treatments present risks to patients, although some treatments have reduced risks of side effects as compared to others.
In cases where patients have slow-growing prostate cancer, as well as cases where patients are older or have other serious health issues, monitoring the state of the cancer may be the most appropriate option.
As the American Cancer Society explains, active surveillance involves regular testing to check for prostate cancer growth. Tests include PSA testing and digital rectal exams as well as prostate biopsies and imaging, such as MRI.
Traditional Surgical and Radiation Treatments
Radical prostatectomy (removal of the prostate) and radiation therapy are traditional and proven treatments for prostate cancer.
Radiation therapy is used to treat some types of early-stage prostate cancers along with more advanced ones. This form of therapy uses radiation from an external source, or very small amounts of radioactive material inserted into the prostate, to slow the growth or kill off cancerous cells.
While radiation is targeted toward cancerous cells, it cannot be completely prevented from reaching healthy tissue. Radiation treatment can cause a variety of side effects that impair quality of life, including a roughly 10-18% risk of urinary incontinence, as research in the journal Urologia Internationalis found.
Radical prostatectomy involves the removal of the entire prostate and some surrounding tissues. It is used when cancer is not thought to have spread far beyond the prostate.
Radical prostatectomy leaves patients without a prostate, which can cause post-operative side effects that impair quality of life. That includes erectile dysfunction, with some studies showing rates as high as 85%, according to research published in the journal Current Opinion in Supportive and Palliative Care.
Minimally Invasive Treatments
In cases of localized prostate cancer where focal treatment is appropriate, laser focal therapy (LFT) and transurethral ultrasound ablation (TULSA-PRO) can be compelling options for patients.
Both treatments use MRI guidance for careful targeting of cancer cells. LFT uses a laser to destroy cancer cells, while TULSA-PRO uses sound waves for the same purpose. LFT (also sometimes called FLA—focal laser ablation) offers advantages with precision in terms of sparing important tissue near the prostate, such as the neurovascular bundles that control erectile function. TULSA-PRO, meanwhile, makes it easier to obtain wider coverage.
Both TULSA-PRO and LFT have reduced risks of side effects that can negatively affect quality of life as compared to radical prostatectomy and radiation therapy. These treatments are not appropriate for all cases of prostate cancer. However, they are worth considering in consultation with an experienced physician prior to making a potentially life altering decision.
Finding Options for Prostate Cancer Treatment
Prostate Laser Center offers minimally invasive treatment options such as TULSA-PRO and LFT to qualifying patients. Learn more about the treatment options we offer: Request a consultation today.
NOTE: The information provided on this website is general medical information and does not establish a physician-patient relationship. Please discuss your particular situation with a qualified medical professional.
