PROSTATIC HYPERTROPHY

They include frequency of urination along with difficulty, discomfort and pull pain. These symptoms are much more likely to be caused by BPH than cancer but any man who is experiencing them must seek immediate medical help. All too often, a man does not report to his doctor because of embarrassment or fear but delay in treating this cancer can prove to be fatal. A doctor will be likely to examine the prostate gland by means of a digital rectal examination in order to detect any obvious growth. A further test may be carried out on a blood sample to detect a particular protein, prostate specific antigen (PSA), which is often occurs at a high level in individuals with cancer. Further diagnostic tests using advanced scanning methods may be carried out to confirm the diagnosis.

   Treatment methods depend upon individual circumstances, particularly the age of the patient and whether the cancer is the slow-growing form and has not spread. However, in many cases, PROSTATECTOMY (surgical excision of the prostate gland) will be needed or drug and hormone therapy to suppress the production of ANDROGENS which cause the tumour to grow. If the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy may be required.

   Cancer specialists have long complained that prostate cancer has been the ‘Cinderella’ among malignant diseases, attracting little funding for research or attention by the government and media. However, this situation is undergoing a change at the present time and there is now a great deal of discussion and published information about prostate cancer in the media in order to raise the level of awareness among men. In North America, men aged over 50 are encouraged to have a yearly rectal examination and PSA blood test to detect early cases of cancer. In the UK, there is debate about the overall usefulness of the PSA test as a screening technique as it is known that it can throw up false positives and equally, may sometimes fail to identify those with cancer. However, it seems certain that some sort of screening for men in the UK will be available in the near future. At the present time, Individual men aged 50 and above may wish to discuss the screening options with their doctor.

   Considerable research is being devoted to discovering preventive measures for prostate cancer in order to lessen the risks of contracting the disease but unfortunately, at the present time, most of this is experimental and some of it conflicting. However, it is suspected that both diet and environmental factors have a part in the prevention of cancer. Research has suggested that cooked tomatoes, tomato ketchup and foods containing selenium (nuts, e.g Brazil nuts, egg yolks seeds, whole grain cereals) and vitamin E may be protective. In general, a diet low in animal fat and high in vegetables and fruits, especially those with antioxidant properties (e.g. cranberries, blackberries, etc.) may be preventative and this is the diet recommended for general good health. Soya may also be protective. Promising new research results, centered on the cheap and widely available drug, aspirin, were recently announced in the UK. The results suggested that aspirin could combat existing prostate cancer and the drug may prove a useful tool I the treatment of the disease. Further research and clinical trials are expected to throw new light on these findings during the next few years.