Prostate cancer: symptoms and possible treatments

Prostate cancer is one of the most common in the male population. Let's find out how to recognize it and what are the treatments.

We speak of tumor or prostate cancer when there are cells with abnormal growth inside the prostate which is a gland present only in men and aimed at the production of a part of the seminal fluid. This gland is about the size of a walnut. Over time, however, it can swell leading to various problems including the appearance of a tumor. So here's everything you need to know about it.

The causes of prostate cancer

Although the incidence of this tumor is very high, the data regarding its course, especially in recent years, are very encouraging. In order to better deal with the disease, it is in fact very important to obtain early diagnosis in order to be able to intervene as soon as possible.

Having said that, it is important to know that prostate cancer can occur more easily after the age of 50 and even more so after the age of 65. However, it is always important not to forget that in some cases it can also occur prematurely. Familiarity also contributes to the risk of developing the disease. Reason why in case of the presence of this disease in the family it is very important to always keep yourself under control.

In some cases, the cause can also be attributed to the presence of some mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, usually also the cause of other tumors such as ovarian cancer or breast cancer .
Obviously, as in all cases of cancer, even the wrong lifestyle can lead to a problem. Lifestyles with incorrect nutrition, alcohol and substance abuse can therefore lead to a greater risk of cancer.

How many symptoms of prostate cancer are there

The prostate, although small, is made up of different types of cells that can mutate leading to tumors of different types. Generally the most common originate from the gland and are called adenocarcinomas. But there are also sarcomas, transitional cell carcinomas and small cell carcinomas.

Going to the symptoms , these, at least at the beginning of the disease can be completely absent except appear slowly. When the tumor begins to grow, however, there are some symptoms that are more evident than others and which can alarm the possibility of the presence of the disease. Among the most common are:

– Difficulty urinating
– Frequent urination
– Pain when urinating
– Presence of blood or semen in urineFeeling that you do not urinate at all

Very often, these symptoms can also indicate other problems such as problems not related to the presence of a tumor and therefore easily solvable. To ascertain this, however, it is necessary to contact a urologist who, after a careful visit and a probable prescription of some blood tests, will establish what to do and any further investigations to be done (if necessary). Among these are MRI and in more important cases biopsy.

Prostate cancer treatments

Like any tumor, prostate cancer also has different degrees that indicate the severity of the disease. The stadium, on the other hand, serves to indicate its eventual diffusion. In case of low risk , it is possible that the doctor decides to limit himself to monitoring the evolution of the disease without intervening surgically.

If the specialist deems it necessary to intervene, there are several methods that will have to be chosen once again based on the seriousness of the situation, the patient's age and other factors that the doctor will carefully evaluate.

To the watchful waiting already described, the possible radical removal of the prostate is added. In case of advanced disease, surgery can be accompanied by different types of treatments such as hormone intake, chemotherapy and / or radiotherapy.

In particular cases, the so-called brachytherapy is also used, which consists of inserting small "seeds" capable of releasing radiation. Of course, every treatment has side effects. To those already known of radiotherapy, we add those related to hormonal therapy which are the decrease or cancellation of sexual desire, impotence, weight gain, loss of muscle mass, etc …

An important fact is that research is very active in this sense and that new drugs are always coming out to treat this tumor by eliminating the negative effects as much as possible.