Suddenly your world starts to crumble with disbelief. But this should not be so. Knowing what prostate cancer is, can help you cope with what lies ahead.

What is it?

Prostate is a part of a man’s reproductive organ that produces and stores seminal fluid. It is located under the urinary bladder just in front of the rectum surrounding part of the urethra. The urethra is the same tube that carries urine from your bladder when you urinate and semen when you ejaculate. It is understandable why symptoms of most prostate diseases affect these functions and sometimes even defecation.

20% of the fluid from many small glands found in prostate produces semen. These same glands mutate into cancer cells. Men also have hormones also known as androgens. We must understand that androgens include testosterone, the principal male sex hormone and an anabolic steroid.  

How to diagnose?

Most men, usually aged 50 and older, who have this condition do not even know that they have it since early prostate cancer causes no symptoms - urinary frequency, nocturia, hematuria and dysuria as well as problem with erection and ejaculation.

These symptoms along with physical examination and prostate specific antigen (PSA) would indicate the presence of prostate cancer –although PSA test is still argued over its accuracy as well the value of screening.

Biopsy is the only test that would confirm any diagnosis of prostate cancer. During surgery, small pieces of prostate cancer will be removed and examine under the microscope. Transrectal ultrasonography is also used to take a picture of the prostate.

Treatments and medications

Treatment and medication for prostate cancer patients vary. Several factors will have to be considered to decide which best treatment is for a patient such as the pace of growth of the cancer, how much it has spread, the age and life expectancy, and then there is the good and bad side effects of the treatment.

Most common treatments for the disease are:

• External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) which effectively destroys cancerous cells, but also scar adjacent healthy tissues.
• Radioactive seed implant (brachytherapy ) are rice-size radioactive seeds that give a higher dose of radiation for a longer period of time often used in men with smaller prostates that has small and lower grade cancers.
• Hormone therapy helps stop the production of hormones and blocks them from getting into cancer cell. It is found to be effective especially for men who have advanced prostate cancer since it can shrink large tumors.
•  Radical prostatectomy is when surgeons remove your prostate gland either through retropubic surgery or Perineal surgery both aim to treat cancer that is within the prostate gland.
• Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALRP) is the newest procedure to remove the prostate.
• Chemotherapy is most often used to men who have hormone-resistant prostate cancer. It is effective in treating cancer, but not to cure it.
• Cryotherapy destroys cancer cell by freezing it, but since it also results in damage to tissue around the bladder and long term complications, smaller probes and a more precise method have been developed.
• Medications and drug therapies are also prescribed to patients such as LH-RH, leuporide, and goserelin.

Because of the many complications modern treatments brought to patients, many patients also turn to nature without leaving their medications entirely. Since the dysfunction of the prostate is also considered to be a nutritional disease, many opt to change their carnivorous diet to vegetable and fruits, having only occasional meat for their meals. Dairies are avoided, but fruits and vegetable rich in lycopene are encouraged. Fructose found in fruits are also know to be a prostate protecting fruit, as well as soy-based foods, garlic and other foods containing selenium and Vitamins D and E.

How to cope

Prostate cancer affects thousand of men suffering from this condition. It can make a man feel like he has lost his dignity. Sexual pleasures may escape him. But this does not mean that cure and hope should elude you. Rather take it as the best challenge you can face in your life. Meet this challenge with an aim to overcome it. Eat right. Look at things differently. View life as being more precious worth preserving. And more importantly, it can never change that you are the man that you are – strong-willed and determined to be complete in every sense of it.

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