Prostate Cancer Health Article

Definition

Prostate cancer is a disease in which the cells of the prostate become abnormal and start to grow uncontrollably, forming tumors. Tumors that can spread to other parts of the body are called malignant tumors or cancers. Tumors incapable of spreading are said to be benign.

Description

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United States, and is the second leading cause of cancer deaths. The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that in 1998, at least 185,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed, and it will be the cause of at least 40,000 deaths. Although prostate cancer may be very slow-growing, it is a heterogeneous disease and can be quite aggressive, especially in younger men. When the disease is slow-growing, it may often go undetected. Because it may take many years for the cancer to develop, many men with the disease will probably die of other causes, rather than from the cancer itself.

Prostate cancer affects African American men twice as often as it does Caucasian men, and the mortality rate among African Americans is also two times higher. African Americans have the highest rate of prostate cancer in the world.

The prostate, testicles, and seminal vesicles are the major male sex glands. These three glands together secrete the fluid that makes up semen. The prostate is about the size of a walnut and lies just behind the urinary bladder. A tumor in the prostate interferes with proper control of the bladder and normal sexual functions. Often, the first symptom of prostate cancer to develop is difficulty in urinating. However, because the same symptom can be caused by a very common, noncancerous condition of the prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia), it does not always mean that prostate cancer is present.

As the prostate cancer grows, some of the cells break off and spread to other parts of the body through the lymph or the blood. The most common sites to which it spreads are the lymph nodes, the lungs, and various bones around the hips and the pelvic region.