-IBIS-1.5.0-
tx
reproductive system
prostate cancer
diagnoses
definition and etiology
definition:
Malignancy of the prostate.
etiology:
Prostate cancer is very rarely seen in males under 50 years old, and is rated third in cancer deaths in male patients over the age of 65 (behind lung and colon). Most are adenocarcinomas. They are associated with benign prostatic hypertrophy, but there is no specific causative link.
signs and symptoms
signs and symptoms:
May be asymptomatic.
Frequency, urgency, nocturia.
Rectal examination reveals a firm, hard prostate.
lab findings:
(+) Biopsy.
Increased serum acid phosphatase.
Increased prostate-specific antigen.
X-rays: (+) for bony metastases: generally, at this time alkaline phosphatase will also be increased.
(+) bone marrow aspiration or bone scan with Technetium-99m polyphosphate for metastases to bone.
course and prognosis
Conventional treatment is prostatectomy and/or radiation, or hormone therapy. In non-metastatic disease, the 10-year survival rate is 65%, although the male almost always becomes impotent and urinary incontinence can develop (5-15% of patients) following surgical removal of the prostate. Hormone therapy with estrogen can provide excellent results. Once bony metastasis has occurred, the survival rate declines to 2-3 years.
differential diagnosis
BPH.
footnotes