 |
||
1 Testosterone and its active metabolite. Dihydro-testosterone
are essential for prostate cancer to develop, but does not
actually cause prostate cancer. Men who are castrated at a young
age do not develop prostate cancer.
2 Prevalence of prostate cancer
One in ten men will develop clinically significant prostate
cancer in their lifetime. It is the most commonly diagnosed
cancer in American males with 250 000 new cases reported
annually. Prostate cancer is second only to lung cancer as a
cause of cancer death in both the USA and the UK. Prostate
cancer is rare among Orientals. It is more common in black than
white Americans. The disease appears to present at a younger age
and behave more aggressively in American blacks. Prostate cancer
is common in South Africa and probably underreported as a cause
of death. The exact incidence in South Africa is not known as no
large-scale epidemiological studies have been performed. It is
uncertain whether prostate cancer is more common in South
African blacks as compared to whites. In very old
men prostate
cancer is not always clinically significant. Autopsy data
indicate a 70% incidence of prostate cancer in 80 year old men.
The majority of these men died with rather than from prostate
cancer.
3 Causes of prostate cancer
There is no single cause of prostate cancer. The cancer
originates in the epithelial cells of the glandular elements of
the prostate. As with most cancers defects in the DNA of the
cell are central to the development of prostate cancer. Multiple
DNA defects are required for cancer to develop. This multi-step
process takes place over time. Some defects can be inherited,
while others are acquired during the patient's lifetime.
Prostate cancer is exceedingly rare before the age of 40, but 1
in 8 men between the ages of 60 and 80 years suffer from the
disease. 9% of all prostate cancers are caused by a genetic
susceptibility, probably inherited via chromosome 1. These
genetically related cancers tend to present at a relatively
younger age.
4 What is prostatitis?
Prostatitis means
"inflammation of the prostate", and is one of
the most common reasons men visiting the doctor in the western
world. It is most common in men over the age of 30, and
particularly in men over the age of 60. While prostatitis is
treatable, diagnosis can be lengthy and not all treatments are
successful. This is partly because the various causes of
prostatitis are not fully understood. There are three main types
of prostatitis:
* Acute prostatitis, which develops suddenly and may not be
permanent. * Non-bacterial prostatitis, which may develop
suddenly or follow a slower or variable course. It is now more
commonly called chronic male pelvic pain syndrome because it
cannot be proved to be "non-bacterial", though a bacterial cause
cannot be identified. * Chronic (bacterial) prostatitis, which
develops gradually and may only have subtle symptoms, though it
often continues for a prolonged period. * asymptomatic
inflammatory prostatitis - which has no symptoms at all but
results in an inflamed prostate, is sometimes mentioned. It has
been
discovered when biopsies are conducted on the prostate to
rule out cancer, and no cancer is found. This is a histological
and not a clinical diagnosis. Prostatitis is often reported on
the histological analysis of TURP specimens when the prostate
resection was performed for symptoms of BPH. If the patient is
asymptomatic this histological finding does not warrant any
treatment.
With our next information - we will inform you about the
"Symptoms of prostate cancer" - so you should have a look on
this site in the next 2 weeks! If you have any question send us
your e-mail.
Health-Service-Online Fritz Frei Admin
http://www.cancer-info.info
mailto: info@cancer-info.info
About the author:
Fritz Frei - since more than 25 years in the Health-Consulting
Business - he has build up different rehabilitation groups and
offer now in the network the easy information about a better
health and life. http://www.cancer-info.info