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The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system. The prostate makes and stores a component of semen and is located near the bladder and the rectum. The prostate surrounds part of the urethra, the tube that empties urine from the bladder. A healthy prostate is about the size of a walnut. If the prostate grows too large, the flow of urine can be slowed or stopped.
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| 2. |
What are the symptoms of prostate cancer? |
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Prostate cancer often does not cause symptoms for many years. By the time symptoms occur, the disease may have spread beyond the prostate. When symptoms do occur, they may include:
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Frequent urination, especially at night |
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Inability to urinate |
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Trouble starting or holding back urination |
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A weak or interrupted flow of urine |
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Painful or burning urination |
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Blood in the urine or semen |
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Painful ejaculation |
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Frequent pain in the lower back, hips, or upper thighs |
These can be symptoms of cancer, but more often they are symptoms of non-cancerous conditions. It is important to check with a doctor. |
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How is prostate cancer diagnosed? |
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The diagnosis of prostate cancer can be confirmed only by a biopsy. During a biopsy, a urologist (a doctor who specializes in diseases of urinary and sex organs in men, and urinary organs in women) removes tissue samples, usually with a needle. This is generally done in the doctor’s office with local anesthesia. Then a pathologist (a doctor who identifies diseases by studying tissues under a microscope) checks for cancer cells. |
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What is metastasis, and how does it happen? |
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Metastasis means the spread of cancer. Cancer cells can break away from a tumor and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system (the system that produces, stores, and carries the cells that fight infections). That is how cancer cells spread to other parts of the body.
When cancer cells spread and form a new tumor in a different organ, the new tumor is a metastatic tumor. The cells in the metastatic tumor come from the original tumor. This means, for example, that if breast cancer spreads to the lungs, the metastatic tumor in the lung is made up of cancerous breast cells (not lung cells). In this case, the disease in the lungs is metastatic breast cancer (not lung cancer). Under a microscope, metastatic breast cancer cells generally look the same as the cancer cells in the breast.
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