Cancer and Healthy

Prostate cancer is a malignant tumor that grows in the prostate gland. If left untreated, it can spread to nearby lymph nodes, bones or organs. Prostate cancer is found in about 10 percent of men undergoing treatment for BPH (benign prostatic hypertrophy) or prostatitis. It is also found in about 40 percent of men with bladder cancer. BPH will be discussed further in several new articles.

How fast the cancer spreads and exactly how it develops varies for each case. The survival rate depends on what stage the cancer is at when it's discovered but early diagnosis increases the chances that treatment will be successful. In the past few years, five-year survival rates for all stages of prostate cancer have increased from 67 percent to 99 percent.

You might be asking at this point, what is the prostate? The prostate is a a small, round organ below the bladder and in front of the rectum in men. It surrounds part of the urethra, which is the tube that carries urine from the bladder. The prostate produces secretions that provide nutrients to sperm, and it also provides the muscle power needed when the sperm leaves the penis during ejaculation. The prostate is about 30 per cent muscular tissue; the rest is glandular tissue.

As was noted above, prostate cancer is a very treatable cancer, if it is detected early. Men in their 40s and up should get tested as a matter of course once a year. This is the best way to detect it in its earliest stages.