Prostate Cancer Specialist

What causes prostate cancer?

Like most types of cancer, prostate cancer doesn’t have one specific cause. It starts with mutations in normal cells, which then grow and divide. This causes tumors to form or allows cancer to spread to different parts of the body.

Risk factors for prostate cancer include:

• Family history of prostate cancer
• Aging
• Obesity
• Exposure to certain chemicals or toxins

Some evidence suggests that a diet high in red meat or full-fat dairy products might also increase your risk for prostate cancer.

What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?

In the early stages, there are often no symptoms of prostate cancer, which makes regular screenings critical. When symptoms do appear, they may include:

• A frequent urge to urinate during the day and night
• Blood in the urine
• Painful urination
• Trouble starting or stopping urination
• Difficulty achieving or maintaining an erection

As the condition progresses into the later stages, it can cause pain in the pelvis or ribs, bone pain, urinary incontinence, or leg weakness.

What are the treatment options for prostate cancer?

In its early stages, sometimes doctors use a “wait and see” approach, while regularly monitoring blood levels and other disease indicators.

If the condition is more advanced, your physician might recommend:

• Surgery: In some cases, you might need a radical prostatectomy, which is a procedure to remove the prostate.
• Radiation: In a brachytherapy procedure, your physician implants radioactive seeds into the prostate to deliver precise radiation to the affected area. In conformal radiation therapy, the surgeon shapes radiation beams to overlap the size and shape of the affected region, so as not to harm healthy tissue.
• Chemotherapy: With prostate cancer that’s in the advanced stages, you might need chemotherapy. This type of treatment includes drugs that help to kill cancer cells all over your body.

Regardless of the type of treatment for prostate cancer, you might also need lifelong hormone therapy if you have the condition.

When caught and treated early enough, prostate cancer comes with a high survival rate. To learn about your options for treatment, contact Oceanside Urology LLC. Click to book a consultation or call the office to schedule an appointment today.