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PROSTRATE CANCER | 14th June, 2017

Prostate cancer is a disease which only affects men. Cancer begins to grow in the prostate - a gland in the male reproductive system.

What is the prostate?
The prostate is an exocrine gland of the male reproductive system, and exists directly under the bladder, in front of the rectum. An exocrine gland is one whose secretions end up outside the body e.g. prostate gland and sweat glands. It is approximately the size of a walnut.
 
The urethra - a tube that goes from the bladder to the end of the penis and carries urine and semen out of the body - goes through the prostate.
 
There are thousands of tiny glands in the prostate - they all produce a fluid that forms part of the semen. This fluid also protects and nourishes the sperm. When a male has an orgasm the seminal-vesicles secrete a milky liquid in which the semen travels. The liquid is produced in the prostate gland, while the sperm is kept and produced in the testicles. When a male climaxes (has an orgasm) contractions force the prostate to secrete this fluid into the urethra and leave the body through the penis.
 
Urine control
 
As the urethra goes through the prostate: the prostate gland is also involved in urine control (continence) with the use of prostate muscle fibers. These muscle fibers in the prostate contract and release, controlling the flow of urine flowing through the urethra.
 
Prostate cancer
In the vast majority of cases, the prostate cancer starts in the gland cells - this is called adenocarcinoma. In this article, prostate cancer refers just to adenocarcinoma.
 
Prostate cancer is mostly a very slow progressing disease. In fact, many men die of old age, without ever knowing they had prostate cancer - it is only when an autopsy is done that doctors know it was there. Several studies have indicated that perhaps about 80% of all men in their eighties had prostate cancer when they died, but nobody knew, not even the doctor.
 
This can make it more difficult for the man to pass urine as the growing prostate gland may be causing the urethra to collapse. When the prostate gland becomes too big in this way, the condition is called Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). BPH is not cancer, but must be treated.
 
Sometimes these cells escape out of the prostate, to invade nearby tissues or spread throughout the body. Typically, prostate cancer is a slow-growing cancer that does not progress outside of the prostate gland before the time of diagnosis. However, sometimes it will grow quickly and spread to nearby lymph nodes.
 
Treatments for prostate cancer may include surveillance, surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, chemotherapy, vaccine therapy, and other medical therapies that can affect prostate cancer cell growth.
 
PSA testing is considered to be yearly PSA tests; not all agree this should be done. Rectal examination is recommended in patients with an elevated PSA and may be considered as a baseline test.
 
Prostate cancer is definitively diagnosed by tissue biopsy; initial studies may include a rectal exam, ultrasound and PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels.
 
Your health our concern!
 
Mawuena Workartey / ghanahospitals.org
 

     
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