Where is prostate cancer found in the body

Damage to the genetic material DNA of prostate cells is more likely for men over the age of Damaged or abnormal prostate cells can begin to grow out of control and form tumors. Age is a well-known risk factor for prostate cancer. But, smoking and being overweight are more closely linked with dying from prostate cancer.

African American men have, by far, the highest incidence of the disease. One in six African American men will get prostate cancer. African American men are more likely to get prostate cancer at an earlier age.

They are also more like to have aggressive tumors that grow quickly, spread and cause death. The reason why prostate cancer is more prevalent in African American men is unclear yet it may be due to socioeconomic, environmental, diet or other factors. Other ethnicities, such as Hispanic and Asian men, are less likely to get prostate cancer. Men with a family history of prostate cancer also face a higher risk of also developing the disease.

A man is 2 to 3 times more likely to get prostate cancer if his father, brother or son had it. This risk increases with the number of relatives diagnosed with prostate cancer. The age when a close relative was diagnosed is also an important factor.

Studies show prostate cancer risk may double for heavy smokers. Smoking is also linked to a higher risk of dying from prostate cancer. However, within 10 years of quitting, your risk for prostate cancer goes down to that of a non-smoker the same age. Prostate cancer numbers and deaths vary around the world but are higher in North America and Northern Europe.

Higher rates may be due to better or more screening procedures, heredity, poor diets, lack of exercise habits, and environmental exposures. Diet and lifestyle may affect the risk of prostate cancer. It isn't clear exactly how. Your risk may be higher if you eat more calories, animal fats, refined sugar and not enough fruits and vegetables.

A lack of exercise is also linked to poor outcomes. Obesity or being very overweight is known to increase a man's risk of dying from prostate cancer. One way to decrease your risk is to lose weight, and keep it off. Doing things that are "heart healthy", will also keep your prostate healthy. Eating right, exercising, watching your weight and not smoking can be good for your health and help you avoid prostate cancer.

Others believe they only slow the development of prostate cancer. Studies do show that men taking these drugs were less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. Still, it is not clear if these drugs are affective so you should talk to your doctor about the possible side effects. The prostate specific antigen PSA blood test and digital rectal examination DRE are two tests that are used to screen for prostate cancer.

Both are used to detect cancer early. However, these tests are not perfect. Abnormal results with either test may be due to benign prostatic enlargement BPH or infection, rather than cancer. The American Urological Association AUA recommends talking with your healthcare provider about whether or not you should be screened.

To find out if prostate cancer screening is a good idea, use our Prostate Cancer Screening Assessment Tool. Share your results with your healthcare provider when you talk about the benefits and risks of screening.

The prostate-specific antigen PSA blood test is one way to screen for prostate cancer. This blood test measures the level of PSA in the blood. PSA is a protein made only by the prostate and prostate cancers. The test can be done in a lab, hospital or healthcare provider's office. Very little PSA is found in the blood of a man with a healthy prostate. A low PSA is a sign of prostate health. A rapid rise in PSA may be a sign that something is wrong.

Prostate cancer is the most serious cause of a high PSA result. Another reason for a high PSA can be benign non-cancer enlargement of the prostate. Prostatitis , inflammation of the prostate, can also cause high PSA results. A rise in PSA level does not tell us the type of cancer cells present. The rise tells us that cancer may be present. Talk with your healthcare provider about whether the PSA test is useful for you.

If you decide to get tested, be sure to talk about changes in your PSA level with your provider. Make sure to watch our video on the PSA Blood test. The digital rectal examination DRE helps your doctor find prostate problems. For this exam, the healthcare provider puts a lubricated gloved finger into the rectum. The man either bends over or lies curled on his side on a table.

During this test, the doctor feels for an abnormal shape or thickness to the prostate. DRE is safe and easy to do.

But the DRE by itself cannot detect early cancer. It should be done with a PSA test. They help to find prostate cancer early, before it spreads. When found early, it can be treated early which helps stop or slow the spread of cancer. This is likely to help some men live longer.

A risk of a PSA test is that it may miss detecting cancer a "false negative". Or, the test may be a "false positive," suggesting something is wrong when you are actually healthy.

A false positive result may lead to a biopsy that isn't needed. The test might also detect very slow growing cancer that will never cause problems if left untreated. A biopsy is a type of minor surgery. For a prostate biopsy, tiny pieces of tissue are removed from the prostate and looked at under a microscope. The pathologist is the doctor who will look carefully at the tissue samples to look for cancer cells.

This is the only way to know for sure if you have prostate cancer. Your doctor will also consider your family history of prostate cancer, ethnicity, biopsy history and other health factors. Prostate biopsy is usually done using an ultrasound probe to look at the prostate and guide the biopsy.

You may be given an enema and antibiotics to prevent infection. For the test, you will lie on your side as the probe goes into the rectum. First, your provider takes a picture of the prostate using ultrasound. Your healthcare provider will note the prostate gland's size, shape and any abnormalities. Not all prostate cancers can be seen, and not all shadows are cancer. The prostate gland is then numbed anesthetized with a needle passed through the probe. Then, the provider removes very small pieces of your prostate using a biopsy device.

The amount of tissue removed depends on the size of the gland, PSA results and past biopsies. Make sure to watch our video on Prostate Cancer Biopsy.

After a biopsy, you may have blood in your ejaculate, urine and stool. This should go away fairly quickly. If not, or you get a fever, contact your doctor. Grading with the Gleason Score and staging defines the progress of cancer and whether it has spread:. When prostate cancer cells are found in tissue from the core biopsies, the pathologist "grades" it. The grade is a measure of how quickly the cells are likely to grow and spread how aggressive it is.

The most common grading system is called the Gleason grading system. With this system, each tissue piece is given a grade between three 3 and five 5. In the past, we assigned scores of one 1 and two 2. A grade of less than three 3 means the tissue is close to normal. A grade of three 3 suggests a slow growing tumor.

A high grade of five 5 indicates a highly aggressive, high-risk form of prostate cancer. The Gleason system then develops a "score" by combing the two most common grades found in biopsy samples.

The Gleason score will help your doctor understand if the cancer is as a low-, intermediate- or high-risk disease. Generally, Gleason scores of 6 are treated as low risk cancers. Gleason scores of 8 and above are treated as high-risk cancers. If you are diagnosed with prostate cancer, ask about your Gleason score and how it impacts your treatment decisions. Tumor stage is also measured. Staging describes where the cancer is within the prostate, how extensive it is, and if it has spread to other parts of the body.

One can have low stage cancer that is very high risk. Staging the cancer is done by DRE and special imaging studies. The system used for tumor staging is the TNM system. The imaging tests show if and where the cancer has spread, for example: to lymph nodes or bone. These staging imaging tests are generally done for men with a Gleason grade of 7 or higher and a PSA higher than Sometimes follow-up images are needed to evaluate changes seen on the bone scan.

Not all men need imaging tests. Your doctor may recommend imaging exams based on results from other tests. Prostate cancer may spread from the prostate into other tissues.

It may spread to the nearby seminal vesicles, the bladder, or further to the lymph nodes and the bones. Rarely, it spreads to the lungs and or other organs. Your healthcare provider may recommend a pelvic CT scan , an MRI scan or a bone scan to check if your cancer has spread. Many men with prostate cancer will not die from it; they will die from other causes. For men who are diagnosed, it is better if it is caught early. Survival rates for men with prostate cancer have increased over the years, thanks to better screening and treatment options.

Many men having treatment are cured. Most prostate cancer is slow-growing and takes many years to progress. One out of three men will survive after five years, even if the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Some cancers grow so slowly that treatment may not be needed at all. Others grow fast and are life-threatening so treatment is usually necessary. Deciding what treatment you should get can be complex. Talk with your healthcare team about your options.

Your treatment plan will depend on:. Results from other diagnostic tests will help your provider understand if the cancer can spread or recur return after treatment. Before you decide what to do, you should consider how immediate and long-term side effects from treatment will affect your life, and what you're willing to tolerate.

Also, you should consider that you may try different things over time. If you have time before you start treatment, consider your range of options. Get a second opinion from different prostate cancer experts. You may need to see another urologist, oncologist or radiation oncologist. Consider the expertise of your doctor before you begin.

With more experienced surgeons, the risk of permanent side effects like incontinence is lower. Also, it helps to talk with other survivors and learn from their experiences. In addition, try and get or stay healthy.

Eating a well-balanced diet, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising and not smoking are all important factors when fighting prostate cancer.. Moreover, don't ignore your emotions. Think about how you're coping with this diagnosis. Many men who have prostate cancer feel worried, stressed and angry. You and those that care about you may need to consider professional counseling.

Active surveillance does not actively treat prostate cancer. A schedule for tests will be set with your provider. To help your provider do these biopsies, a multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging pmMRI exam might be done. The risk group can help tell if other tests should be done, and what the best treatment options might be. Be sure to ask the doctor about your cancer's stage, grade, and risk group, and what they mean for you. There are many ways to treat prostate cancer.

The main kinds of treatment are observation, active surveillance, surgery, radiation, hormone therapy, and chemo. Sometimes more than one kind of treatment is used. Because prostate cancer often grows very slowly, some men, especially those who are older and with other health problems, may never need treatment at all.

The doctor may plan to keep track of the cancer without treating it. This is called observation. It might be done if the cancer is small, is not causing any problems, and seems to be growing very slowly. Some younger men who are healthy and have small slow-growing cancer may consider active surveillance.

This is watching the cancer more closely and then treating it if symptoms start. There are many types of surgery for prostate cancer. Some are done to try to cure the cancer; others are done to control the cancer or make symptoms better. Talk to the doctor about the kind of surgery planned and what you can expect. Any type of surgery can have risks and side effects. Be sure to ask the doctor what you can expect. If you have problems, let your doctors know so they can help you.

Radiation uses high-energy rays like x-rays to kill cancer cells. There are different ways to use radiation to treat prostate cancer. It can be aimed at the prostate gland from a machine outside the body. Or in some cases, small radioactive pellets, or seeds, each about the size of a grain of rice, can be put right into your prostate. If your doctor suggests radiation treatment, talk about what side effects might happen.

The most common side effects of radiation to the prostate are diarrhea, leaking stool, or blood in the stool; having to pee pass urine a lot, leaking urine, burning when you pee, or blood in your urine; erection problems; feeling very tired fatigue ; and fluid build-up in your legs.

Most side effects get better after radiation ends. Some might last longer. Talk to your doctor about what you can expect. This treatment reduces your levels of male hormones, called androgens, or stops them from working. This often makes prostate cancers shrink or grow more slowly. But hormone therapy does not cure prostate cancer.

It begins in the prostate gland, which sits between the penis and the bladder. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer to affect males in the United States. In fact, in , the American Cancer Society ACS predict that there will be around , new diagnoses of prostate cancer and around 31, deaths from this type of cancer. Around 1 in 9 males will receive a diagnosis of prostate cancer at some point in their life. However, only 1 in 41 of these will die as a result of it. This is because treatment is effective, especially in the early stages.

Routine screening enables doctors to detect many cases of prostate cancer before they spread. There are often no symptoms during the early stages of prostate cancer, but screening can detect changes that can indicate cancer. Screening involves a test that measures levels of PSA in the blood. High levels suggest that cancer may be present. Males who do experience symptoms may notice:. Is prostate cancer the only cause of blood in the urine? Learn more here.

How likely is back pain to indicate later stage prostate cancer? In the sections below, we list some treatment options for each stage of prostate cancer, as well as some new approaches and what treatment means for fertility:. Prostate cancer grows slowly, and the risk of side effects may outweigh the need for immediate treatment. A surgeon may carry out a prostatectomy.

They can remove the prostate gland using either laparoscopic or open surgery. Brachytherapy : A doctor will implant radioactive seeds into the prostate to deliver targeted radiation treatment. Conformal radiation therapy : This targets a specific area, minimizing the risk to healthy tissue. Another type, called intensity modulated radiation therapy , uses beams with variable intensity. Treatment will depend on various factors. A doctor will discuss the best option for the individual. As cancer grows, it can spread throughout the body.

If it spreads, or if it comes back after remission, the treatment options will change. One of the biggest risk factors for prostate cancer is age. This disease rarely affects young men. The Prostate Cancer Foundation reports that only 1 in 10, men under the age of 40 in the United States will develop it.

That number jumps to 1 in 38 for men between the ages of 40 and It leaps to 1 in 14 men between the ages of 60 and The majority of cases are diagnosed in men over In contrast, African-American men are more likely to develop the disease than men of other races and ethnicities.

One study published in looked at cases of prostate cancer and found a correlation between a diet high in meat and high-fat dairy products and prostate cancer, but stressed the need for additional studies. A more recent study from looked at the diet of men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer and found an association between high-fat milk consumption and the progression of the cancer. This study suggests that high-fat milk consumption may also play a role in the development of prostate cancer.

Men who eat diets high in meat and high-fat dairy products also seem to eat fewer fruits and vegetables. More research is needed. Where you live can also impact your risk of developing prostate cancer. While Asian men living in America have a lower incidence of the disease than those of other races, Asian men living in Asia are even less likely to develop it.

Environmental and cultural factors may play a role. The Prostate Cancer Foundation notes that in the United States, men living north of 40 degrees latitude are at a higher risk of dying from prostate cancer than those living farther south. This may be explained by a reduction in the levels of sunlight, and therefore vitamin D, which men in northern climates receive.

Aggressive prostate cancers may be slightly different than slower-growing types of the disease. Certain risk factors have been linked to the development of more aggressive types of the condition.