The prostate is a gland that is part of the male reproductive system. Its role is mainly to liquefy semen. Prostate cancer is a cancer that evolves inside the tissue of the prostate gland. It is more typical for this cancer to occur in older men. This type of cancer, like all the other types, starts with cancer cells being produced as a mutation that occurs in a healthy cell. The new cancer cells start to replicate rapidly until they form a mass of extra tissue that is called a tumor. There are some important things that everybody should be aware of when hearing about prostate cancer. I will list nine important facts about prostate cancer in this paper.
1. Out of six men 1 will probably get prostate cancer at some point in their life. There is a projection of approximately 240,000 cases will be diagnosed by the end of 2013.
2. There is an increased chance of getting prostate cancer if you have close relatives with this disease. Chances are that one out of three men will get prostate cancer if they have just one relative that had this cancer. The proportions of getting it to go way up if you have two or three relatives that were diagnosed with prostate cancer in their life. it is certain that this cancer has a strong genetic component.
3. Prostate cancer is second in the ranking of cancers with deadly consequences in the United States. The projected number of new cases for this year was 238,590 and out of them 29,720 was the estimate of deaths.
4. This type of cancer has no visible symptoms when it is in its early stages. This is one of the main reasons why men should go tested annually, especially after their fifties.
5. Testing for prostate consists of a blood test and a simple physical exam. The whole procedure takes about ten minutes and it is covered by the majority of the health insurance programs in most of the states.
6. African- American men have a higher incidence of getting this disease. Data shows that they have the highest rate of prostate cancer worldwide with a proportion 1 to 4 men. They also have a higher probability to die from this type of cancer 2.5 times more than white men.
7. Detecting prostate cancer in its early stages was greatly influenced by PSA testing ( Prostate-Specific Antigen). The ratio of founding this cancer during its early stages was one to four cases. While using this test, 9 out of 10 cases get caught in an early stage, which gives more hope and a chance of surviving.
8. The eighth important fact is related to obesity. One of the biggest predictors of how much the severity of this cancer is going to be is body weight. If a men’s body mass index is over 32.5 there is a 1/3 greater chance of death from this cancer.
9. Last but not least, is relatively good news that is attached to the early detection of prostate cancer. Almost 100% of men who are diagnosed with this disease in its early stages are still living after five years after the diagnosis. This is the main reason why men should be aware and educated about the preventive action of testing annually.
Prostate cancer is one of the leading cancers among old men. Its severity and probability are related to diet components, genetic factors, and early preventive acts. Getting educated about this type of disease is the key factor in increasing the chances of survival.
References
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/prostate/page6
http://www.zerocancer.org/file/10-Things-Everyone-Should-Know-About-Prostate-Cancer-2013.pdf
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/detection/PSA
