Prostate Cancer Symptoms Tips What is prostate cancer symptoms? We have tips about prostate cancer symptoms

The prostate gland is an organ situated at the neck of the urinary bladder. A malignant growth of the prostate is known as prostate cancer, which usually grows very slowly and does not exhibit any major symptoms in the first few years. Advanced prostate cancer spreads to the surrounding tissues and also to other parts of the body such as bones, lungs, and liver. Symptoms of this cancer are therefore more related to an advanced state of this condition.

Advanced prostate cancer is of special significance since it is the most common cancer in American men and is the second leading cause of death after lung cancer. It causes symptoms such as pain in the lower abdomen, slow passage of urine, the presence of blood in the urine, and lower back pain. A spread to the liver can cause pain in the upper right part of the abdomen as well as jaundice, while the spread of the cancer to the lungs can cause symptoms such as cough, breathlessness, and hemoptysis.

Prostate cancer can often be suspected during routine screening because of high PSA levels. Confirmation of the diagnosis of prostate cancer can be done by a digital rectal examination, PSA level testing, ultrasound examination, and biopsy of the prostate gland. Advanced prostate cancer needs further investigations like CT scan of the abdomen, CT scan of the chest, and possibly a PET bone scan. Biopsy examination is graded according to the Gleason scale and reflects the aggressiveness of the tumour, with scores of 7 to 10 indicating a rapidly growing tumour with a very poor prognosis. Gleason scores are also useful in predicting the risk of death from this tumour. Men with Gleason scores of 2 to 4 face a minimal risk (4 to 7%) of death from prostate cancer over the next 15 years, while men with scores of 8 to 10 face a high risk (60 to 87%) of death.

The tumour is also staged according to alphabets A, B, C and D or according to the TNM (tumour, [lymph] node, and metastasis) mode of classification, in order to decide the overall prognosis of the tumour as well as the management and treatment plan. Surgery, cryotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy and chemotherapy are the treatment modalities useful in the management of prostate cancer. Local tumour, or locally advanced tumour is usually treated with a combination of surgery, cryotherapy, and radiation therapy. In the initial stages, watchful waiting is also considered a part of treatment, because of the slow growth of the tumour. Hormonal therapy and chemotherapy are considered for metastatic tumour, when it has spread to other parts of the body; however, treatment at this stage is considered to be palliative and not curative.

In this scenario, Ayurvedic herbal treatment can prove to be a boon for patients with locally advanced prostate cancer or metastatic tumour. Ayurvedic treatment can also prove to be very useful for patients with recurrent tumour, who have completed the full course of conventional treatment. Advanced or metastatic tumour needs aggressive treatment and therefore, Ayurvedic treatment for this condition needs to be instituted at the earliest, with the herbs being given in high doses. Herbal medicines which are useful in this condition have a specific affinity for the prostate and urinary tract, and also target the cancer cells within the tumour. These medicines are given in combination with other herbal medicines which have an immunomodulatory effect, so that the combined effect serves to treat the tumour at the earliest, prevents its spread to other parts of the body, and also prevents a recurrence of the condition. The added advantage of these medicines is that they do not exhibit any major toxicity even if used for prolonged periods and in high doses.

Some medicines useful in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer include Gokshur (Tribulus terrestris), Varun (Craetea nurvala), Saariva (Hemidesmus indicus), Manjishtha (Rubia cordifolia), Amalaki (Emblica officinalis), Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia), Gokshuradi Guggulu, Chandraprabha Vati, Kanchnaar Guggulu, and Maha-Manjishthadi Qadha. The combination of Ayurvedic herbal and herbo-mineral medicines has to be tailor-made according to the presentation of symptoms and the severity of the tumour in each individual. Ayurvedic treatment normally needs to be given for about 9 to12 months in order to bring about significant remission of advanced prostate cancer, as well as prevent or treat metastatic tumour. The judicious use of Ayurvedic medicines can significantly improve quality of life and the overall life span of individuals affected with advanced disease.

Such Ayurvedic herbal and herbo-mineral combinations are equally useful in patients with recurrent prostate cancer; in such individuals, immunomodulatory treatment acquires special significance, since a strong immune system helps to fight against the tumour and prevents spread or recurrence. Needless to say, Ayurvedic treatment can prove to be most useful when started at the earliest possible, and therefore it would be logical to initiate this treatment along with other conventional treatment even for individuals having localised or low-risk prostate cancer.

Ayurvedic herbal treatment thus has a definite role to play in the management and treatment of advanced prostate cancer.

Dr. A. A. Mundewadi is Chief Ayurvedic Physician at Mundewadi Ayurvedic Clinic based at Thane, Maharashtra, India. He is available as an online Ayurvedic Consultant at http://www.ayurvedaphysician.com/
The online clinic offers Ayurvedic treatment for all chronic and refractory health problems. Dr. A. A. Mundewadi, B.A.M.S., has clinical experience of over 25 years and clinical research experience of 12 years. He has conducted extensive research in HIV infection, Schizophrenia and many other chronic diseases.

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Provenge (sipuleucel-T) manufactured by Dendreon corporation is the new therapeutic immunotherapy for prostate cancer patients with an advance metastatic tumor. The therapy was approved last April 29, 2010 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowing 12 manufacturing facilities in New Jersey to operate. During the annual meeting of the Genitourinary American Society of the Clinical Oncology on 2010, Doctor Philip Kantoff said that the study is considered to be the first large controlled clinical trial that showed an immune system based therapy that extended the lives of cancer patients. Recently, Dendreon's 36 manufacturing facilities in New Jersey were approved by the U.S. FDA allowing the company to increase Provenge production supply supporting the 12 manufacturing facilities that was already been approved last April of 2010.

Provenge is an autologous type of cellular immunotherapy that halts and delays prostatic tumor growth by targeting prostatic tumor antigens. This type of immunotherapy is designed to improve the prognosis and quality life of patients with advance and recurrent prostate cancer who are resistant to hormone therapy as well as to other treatment modalities. This therapy is believed to prolong the survival rates of metastatic prostate cancer patients. According to Dr. Daniel George, director of the Genitourinary Oncology, Provenge has the largest reported survival benefits in patients with asymptomatic (no symptoms) or the minimally symptomatic metastatic prostate cancer.

Provenge therapy works by collecting the patient's white blood cells and expose them with a prostate specific antigen known as prostatic acid phosphatase. These cells are incubated with the antigen that is designed to attack the prostate cancer when injected back to the patient. As it is inside the body of the patient, the antigen instructs the immune system to attack and destroy the cancer cells. This therapy is designed to induce an immune response against prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP); an antigen expressed in most prostate cancers. Provenge therapy is the first among the new class of therapeutic therapies that belong to an autologous cellular immunotherapy; it is a personalized type of immunotherapy treatment that makes use of the white blood cells of each patient. According to the Dana Farber cancer institute investigators, Provenge therapy marks the beginning of the new era in which patient's own immune systems become part of the therapeutic arsenal against cancer.

Men who are not responding to hormonal therapies and who have metastatic prostate cancer as well as the patients who experience little or no cancer-related pain having efficient organ functioning are candidates for the therapy. Provenge is administered thru infusion via the intravenous veins of a person. It is given at three doses having two weeks range of interval. 512 patients with advanced metastatic prostate cancer as well as the patients who were resistant to hormone therapy were enrolled to the clinical study of phase 3 trial conducted at the cancer treatment centers. Randomly, patients were given with Provenge and an inactive placebo. Compared to the patients who received the placebo pills, Provenge extended the patient's median survival by 4.1 months and has reduced the overall death rate by 22.5 percent. According to Dr. Mitchell Gold the president of Dendreon Corporation, the significant 4.1 month median survival benefit Provenge demonstrated a representation of a major milestone in the treatment of the metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer.

The common adverse reactions reported during the safety evaluation of 601 patients who underwent the Provenge treatment or the leukapheresis (extraction and incubation of white blood cells) procedure were fatigue, chills, fever, back pain, nausea, headache and joint ache. Critical adverse reactions that were reported in patients receiving Provenge include acute infusion reactions and cerebrovascular events e.g. stroke. Indications of infusion reactions include chills, difficulty of breathing, dizziness, hypertension and vomiting. The majority of the adverse reactions were mild to moderate in severity.

According to Dr. David Penson, a professor of the Urologic Surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the approval of Provenge represents significant advancement in the care of men with advanced prostate cancer. Provenge now offers new treatment of choice among the few treatment options available. "The approval of Provenge, as the first autologous cellular immunotherapy, represents a new significant scientific and clinical advancement for the treatment of prostate cancer," said Philip Kantoff, Medical Doctor and Chief of the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology, Chief of Clinical Research Officer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Urieash Ul is a prostate cancer health expert who has been providing people relevant information about prostate cancer. You can visit his site to learn more about prostate cancer.

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In its simplest form, Seed implant therapy for prostate cancer is a curative form of treatment where radioactive material are placed within the prostate gland. The radiation doses around these sources are huge and are not achievable by any other method of radiation. By exposing cancer cells to this amount of radiation, it does make intuitive sense that this should achieve higher cancer cure rates compared to other forms of treatment.

A Brief History: This procedure was first utilized in the 1970's at several cancer centers throughout the country. Unfortunately, lack of good imaging of the prostate caused inaccurate placement of these seed implants as well causing less than optimal control of these cancers as well as producing horrendous side effects.

What has changed now? With improved imaging with ultrasound technology and high quality computer software, it is now possible to place the radiation seeds a lot more accurately resulting in improved predictability of cancer control and side effects.

What kind of Patients will this work in? Patients with Prostate cancer who are predicted to have a high probability of cancer confined to the prostate can be offered this form of treatment alone.

What about patients who have more advanced disease?: In those patients where the cancer is a little more advanced, but not widespread, can be offered this form of treatment in addition to a 5 week course of external beam radiation therapy. The 5 week course of external radiation therapy allows us to "mop" up cancer cells that may have migrated beyond the capsule of the prostate gland and / or may have spread into the lymph glands surrounding the prostate. The radiation from the seed implant procedure is unable to reach these cancer cells that have escaped beyond the prostate gland. Hence, the combination of both external beam radiation with the seed implant procedure does make a lot of intuitive sense in this group of patients.

What are the types of prostate seed implant procedures that are available?

There are basically two types of procedures.

1) Permanent seed implants: Radioactive seeds are placed within the prostate gland uniformly and left in place forever. The radiation from these seeds are given out slowly over a period of days to months which kills cancer cells. The most common radioactive material that are used in this procedure include radioactive iodine and radioactive palladium. Each of these elements have their own unique characteristics but none have been found superior over the other. The inert seeds which run out of radioactivity remain within the prostate and are harmless. The patient is radioactive for the first one to two months after the procedure, hence prolonged contact with young children and pregnant women should be avoided during this time.

2) Temporary seed implants: Radioactive seeds are placed within needles and catheters that are placed within the prostate gland through a procedure called HDR Brachytherapy. These are then connected to an HDR machine which moves radioactive Iridium into the needles and catheters to different positions within the prostate for specified durations. The total irradiation time is usually only about 10 to 15 minutes. Once the procedure is completed, the catheters and needles are removed and the patient is allowed to go home. This procedure is generally done in two or more sessions to allow delivery of appropriate amounts of radiation to the prostate.

Prostate cancer patients where seed implant is a relative contra-indication: There are certain situations that seed implant becomes problematic. These are those patients who have:
1. undergone a TURP procedure.
2. The anatomy of the pelvis causes what is called pubic arch interference which makes the placement of seeds very difficult to cover the entire gland.
3. Major urinary bladder outlet obstructive symptoms. This again is reflective of the size of the gland making uniform distribution of the seed implant difficult.
4. Obese patients. Procedure becomes difficult and may not allow appropriate distribution of radiation with optimal effects.

What are the problems with seed implant procedure for Prostate cancer? It is an operating room procedure requiring anesthesia, the help of a Urologist, Radiation Oncologist and Physicist. As in any kind of operating procedure, there are inherent risks of any kind of surgery such as bleeding, infection etc.

Is the Seed implant procedure better than other forms of radiation therapy? There are no studies comparing seed implant treatment of prostate cancer with other forms of radiation. So, the answer is still unknown and most likely will never be known. All we can say at this time is that prostate seed implant procedure is not inferior to other forms of radiation treatment and so it will be basically be up to the patient and the consulting radiation doctor to decide on what is best for each individual situation.

Dr. Kumar is a board certified Radiation Oncologist who is co-founder of a private practice group in Florida. He has over 17 years experience dealing with cancer patients including several members in his own family who have been afflicted by this disease.

His philosophy of managing patients is through a unique holistic approach that takes into account the wishes and needs of patients and their families. He believes that any battle is won at the level of the mind first before the body goes into action to win the war. His website http://curingcancerofthemind.com/ reflects this philosophy.

He is always available to help any patient with questions regarding cancer and radiation therapy and can be reached at 772 293 0377.

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A diagnosis of or even the suspicion of mesothelioma can bring with it a feeling of dread and fear that may it difficult to make the decisions that need to be made. At such times having access to sound mesothelioma advice can be priceless. Some information about the disease can sometimes be helpful.

Exposure To Asbestos And Mesothelioma

Asbestos is a name referring to six naturally occurring silicate minerals. Mesothelioma is a cancer that is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos at some point in the patient's past. Most often that exposure came from exposure on the job. Many industries utilized asbestos and in some cases endangered their workers. Some of these were shipbuilding, and some of the construction fields such as plumbing, or electrical workers.

Mesothelioma Symptoms

If you have a history of exposure to asbestos in your past, or if someone you were close to (physically - such as lived in the same house, etc.) had exposure then here are some symptoms to be conscious of. Lumps or abdominal swelling Shortness of breath along with abdominal pain Unexplained weight loss Loss of appetite Nausea Fever Night sweats Persistent cough Blood in the sputum None of these are necessarily caused by mesothelioma, and symptoms of mesothelioma are similar to other cancers, but any of these symptoms combined with a history of exposure to asbestos may mean that it may be a good idea to consult a physician.

Mesothelioma Diagnosis

The tools for the diagnosis of mesothelioma cancer are the same as those for the diagnosis of any cancer. The principle difference is the history of exposure to asbestos. Testing by use of x-rays and blood tests are first steps. There may be further testing by using CT (computed tomography) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans. It may be necessary to obtain fluid from the lungs or within the abdomen. This is when it is sound advice to have the services of a physician with experience in the diagnosis of asbestos cancer mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma Treatment

When a diagnosis of mesothelioma has been made, decisions will have to made about treatment options for malignant mesothelioma. As in the diagnosis of this disease it is important to find a physician experienced in the treatment of mesothelioma. While there is no cure yet, an experienced doctor may be able to give a patient more time with their loved ones and friends. Treatment is normally surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or a combination of these. Some of the factors involved in deciding ona course of treatment are what stage the cancer is, the size of any tumors, and the age and general health of the patient. Sometimes more than one specialist will be consulted to help decide the best course of treatment.

Mesothelioma And Your Rights

Mesothelioma is almost always associated with asbestos exposure. In the past some employers were less than candid about the dangers their employees were being exposed to. The result has been that in many cases these employers have been held responsible for the damage done to their employees' bodies.

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer, you should consult an attorney to explore whether or not you or your family may be entitled to compensation. The first thing to do is find an attorney who has experience pursuing a mesothelioma lawsuit against large corporations and dealing with a sometimes overwhelming and confusing legal system. Try to find an attorney who will treat you with concern and respect. You need someone with an appreciation of what you and your loved ones are experiencing, and who will provide you with all the information and guidance that you need.

Once you have chosen your attorney, you will go through your history. You will review any incidents of asbestos exposure. An experienced attorney will be able to help you remember these incidents. All of this is to lead to a mesothelioma settlement to help you or your family cope with the expenses and pain caused by your exposure to asbestos which led to your mesothelioma. Thousands of workers were exposed for many years and in some cases the companies they were working for knew that there were severe health issues associated with exposure to asbestos, yet they did little or nothing to protect their workers.

More information is available by going to the author's Hubpages dedicated to helping those touched by this dreadful disease. A starting point is located at http://hubpages.com/hub/Helpful-Mesothelioma-Advice.