More Prostate Cancers Are Being Diagnosed at a Later Stage
Prostate cancer cases have reportedly been declining in the past two decades. However, most men find out they have it during the later stages of the disease, reducing successful treatment chances.
A report published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report shows that most men realize they have prostate cancer by the time it will have spread to other parts of the body. The report by researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that such cases have doubled between 2003 and 2017 from 4% to 8%. Dr. David Siegel, the lead researcher from CDC’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, said in the press release:
“Understanding who gets prostate cancer and what the survival numbers are like could be important for men making prostate cancer screening decisions, providers discussing these decisions with their patients, and for informing recommendations for prostate cancer screening.”
According to Dr. Anthony D’Amico, a professor of radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School in Boston, there has been a spike in advanced prostate cancer cases following a 2012 recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force against the routine use of prostate cancer screening with the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. He explained:
“We realized in 2012, when the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said to stop PSA screening, we would expect that somewhere around 2018 to 2019 that cancer death rates would start to go up, and that about two to three years prior to that, around 2015 to 2016, we would expect to see distant metastases [cancer that has spread] go up because they preceded death by a couple of years.”
Advanced Prostate Cancer
Advanced prostate cancer refers to a situation where cancer has spread from the prostate to other parts of the body beyond the prostate gland. Some of the more common areas where prostate cancer is likely to spread include the bladder, rectum, and bones, possibly spreading the lymph nodes, liver, lungs, and other body tissues.
Cancers are known to behave differently depending on a person’s genetic makeup, meaning that not every person will experience the same symptoms in the same way. However, it is crucial to know the most common prostate cancer symptoms and what you can do to stop them.
Bladder and urinary troubles
Prostate tumors can start pressing on your bladder or urethra when they grow to a significant size. The urethra is the passage the carries urine from your bladder out of your body. If the tumor is pressing on your urethra, you might have trouble passing urine. There can be additional trouble when cancer spreads to the bladder, creating further urination and bladder function problems.
The most common symptoms that could indicate a problem can include urinating more frequently, getting up in the middle of the night to pee, having blood in your urine or semen, feeling like you have to urinate often and not passing anything, and not being able to hold your urine (incontinence)
Loss of bowel control
While it’s not too familiar, there are cases where prostate cancer can also spread to your bowel. Cancer first spreads to the rectum, which is the part of your bowel closest to the prostate gland. The most common signs include stomach pain, constipation, and blood in your stool.
Soreness in the groin
Prostate cancer cells could go to your lymph nodes before traveling to the rest of the body. The lymph nodes are a network of glands that help your body filter fluids and fight infections. Your groin has several lymph nodes, and the ones in the groin are closest to your prostate. When this happens, your lymph nodes swell. As a result, you might experience pain or soreness in the area.
Leg Swelling or Weakness
Advanced cancer cells can increase and begin crowding out other healthy cells. The resultant tumors can press on areas like your spinal cord and cause pain, tingling, or swelling in your legs and feet.
Hip or back pain
Bones of the hip and back are closest to the prostate, which becomes an area where the cells could quickly spread. When cancer reaches your bones, it starts to crowd out healthy bone material. Bones become brittle and can break much easier than they usually would. This would be a painful experience, and you may feel a dull ache or stabbing pain that doesn’t go away and disrupts sleep or regular activities.
Unexplained weight loss
If you’re losing weight and not eating less, you may want to get checked for advanced cancer, especially if combined with any of the signs we’ve already mentioned.
Lifestyle changes to reduce prostate cancer risk
There are tens of conflicting studies on cancer, but there’s no sure way for preventing prostate cancer. While this is the case, doctors recommend that any man with an average risk of prostate cancer make choices that benefit their overall health if they’re interested in prostate cancer prevention. Some lifestyle changes you can make include:
Choose a healthy diet.
There is growing evidence that choosing a healthy diet that’s low in fat and full of fruits and vegetables may contribute to a lower risk of prostate cancer, though research results have been mixed, and this hasn’t been proved concretely. You can reduce your risk of prostate cancer by considering:
Choose a low-fat diet. Foods that contain fats include meats, nuts, oils, and dairy products, such as milk and cheese. You can reduce the amount of fat you eat each day by limiting fatty foods or choose low-fat varieties. For instance, reduce the amount of fat you add to foods when cooking, select leaner cuts of meat and choose low-fat or reduced-fat dairy products.
More fruits and vegetables: Increase the number of fruits and vegetables you eat each day. Fruits and vegetables are full of vitamins and nutrients that are thought to reduce prostate cancer risk, though research hasn’t proved that any particular nutrient is guaranteed to reduce your risk. Eating more fruits and vegetables also tends to make you have less room for other foods, such as high-fat foods.
You might consider increasing the number of fruits and vegetables you eat each day by adding a serving of a fruit or vegetable to each meal. Consider eating fruits and vegetables for snacks.
Fewer dairy products: In studies, men who ate the most dairy products — such as milk, cheese, and yogurt — each day had the highest risk of prostate cancer.
Maintain a healthy weight: Men who are obese — a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher — may have an increased risk of prostate cancer. If you are overweight or obese, work on losing weight. You can do this by reducing the number of calories you eat each day and increasing the amount of exercise you do.
Exercise most days of the week: Studies of exercise and prostate cancer risk have mostly shown that men who exercise may have a reduced risk of prostate cancer. Exercise has many other health benefits and may reduce your risk of heart disease and other cancers. Exercise can help you maintain your weight, or it can help you lose weight.
If you don’t already exercise, make an appointment with your doctor to make sure it’s OK for you to get started. When you begin exercising, go slowly. Add physical activity to your day by parking your car farther away from where you’re going, and try taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
Talk to your doctor about your risk
Some men have an increased risk of prostate cancer. There may be other options for risk reduction for those with a very high risk of prostate cancer, such as medications. If you think you have an increased risk of prostate cancer, discuss it with your doctor during an in-person appointment or via modern-day telehealth apps.
D’Amico believes that men should have their PSA level tested. Whether an elevated PSA leads to further diagnosis or treatment should be based on a conversation between a man and his urologist. He says:
“We’re diagnosing less low-risk cases now, but there’s no problem from my perspective in bringing the PSA back, so that the patients with low-risk cancer can have the discussion whether they want treatment or not, knowing what the side effects are, and the patients who need to be cured can be cured.”
Final Thoughts
Even if your cancer has advanced, there are still a variety of treatment options available. These days, people can live longer today than in years past because of advances in medical research. Treatments for advanced prostate cancer focus on managing symptoms and slowing the growth and spread of cancer. Your doctor knows the treatment options and tests, but you know your body. Make sure to communicate with your doctor and tell them about any changes you notice in your body at each visit.