Prostate cancer: diagnosis and treatment options

Prostate cancer, is unfortunately, the most commonly diagnosed cancer amongst men. Thankfully though, there are a wide variety of new, highly effective treatment options that can help treat and, in some cases, completely kill off the cancer.

Read our latest article to find out when men should get prostate exams, and how exactly prostate cancer is diagnosed, as esteemed urologist, Mr Martin Nuttall, provides us with a comprehensive overview of prostate cancer.

What are the signs and symptoms of prostate cancer?

Early prostate cancer has very few symptoms. We normally pick it up with a blood test, called a PSA. Occasionally, we can pick it up if the gentleman has urinary symptoms, such as difficulty passing urine, passing urine more frequently, or occasionally, pain in the bladder and/or bladder infections.

When should you get a prostate exam, and what age group has the biggest risk?

The risk of prostate cancer increases with the increase in age. You should get a prostate exam if you are concerned about prostate cancer, or if you have a strong family history of either breast or prostate cancer.

We generally advise patients who have a family history of prostate cancer to have a PSA blood test done at the age of 40. If there is no family history, it is thought reasonable to get tested at the age of 50.

How common is prostate cancer?

It is the most common cancer diagnosed in men. It is normally found at a very early stage, particularly in younger men. Sometimes in older men, we find it at more advanced stages.

How exactly is it diagnosed?

Firstly, the patient’s medical history will be examined. Then, once we’ve done that, it’s important to examine the prostate. Following that, it is likely that an MRI scan of the prostate will be requested. This will generally take around 30 minutes and gives us several pieces of key information, such as the size of one’s prostate.

The radiologist will then look inside the patient’s prostate, in order to see if there are any abnormal areas that might be associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer. A prostate biopsy would be recommended if abnormal areas are found in the prostate. This would be done under an anaesthetic in the operating theatre.

Then, we would fuse the MRI images with some live ultrasound images of the prostate generated in the operating theatre.

How is prostate cancer treated?

When I see the patient back with the results, one of the key pieces of information is something called the grade of prostate cancer, which is a measure of its aggressiveness. Many prostate cancers do not even require treatment and certainly do not require early treatment.

Some prostate cancers, that have a low aggressiveness, can be monitored closely over many years as they tend to progress very slowly. This monitoring process is something we call active surveillance and involves regular PSA testing. Through further biopsies and MRI scans, we can check if the prostate cancer has progressed.

If there has been a progression, that man would then move over to active treatment. Initially, if the grade of the prostate is high, treatment might be recommended from the get-go. These treatments vary from surgical treatments, where the prostate is removed, to radiotherapy being given to the prostate.

What are the survival rates?

If it is caught and treated early, the survival rates are excellent. If it is caught late, there are many, many treatments these days that can treat advanced prostate cancer.

If you are concerned about prostate cancer, Mr Martin Nuttall can be of trusted help and guidance. Head on over to his Top Doctors profile today to book an appointment with him.