Sunday, December 26, 2010

Prostate Cancer – The Burning Issue

       Prostate cancer is a malignant (cancerous) tumour (growth) that consists of cells from the prostate gland. Generally, the tumour usually grows slowly and remains confined to the gland for many years. During this time, the tumour produces little or no symptoms or outward signs (abnormalities on physical examination). However, all prostate cancers do not behave similarly. Some aggressive types of prostate cancer grow and spread more rapidly than others and can cause a significant shortening of life expectancy in men affected by them.
       Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy in American men and the second leading cause of deaths from cancer, after lung cancer. According to the national cancer institute most recent estimates, 217,730 new cases of prostate cancer would be diagnosed in 2010 and 32,050 would die from the disease. (1)
Types:

Adenocarcinoma
Prostatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia (PIN)
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)
Prostate Carcinoma
Causes:
       The specific causes of prostate cancer remain unknown.(2) A man's risk of developing prostate cancer is related to his age, genetics, race, lifestyle, medications, testosterone, sexually transmitted infections, Potential viral (A group of US researchers found XMRV (Xenotropic Murine leukemia Virus) protein expression in human prostate tumours,(3) environmental factors, such as cigarette smoking and diets that are high in saturated fat, seem to increase the risk of prostate cancer and other factors.(4) The primary risk factor is age. Prostate cancer is very uncommon in men younger than 45, but becomes more common with advancing age.
Signs and symptoms (5):

A frequent need to urinate, especially at night
Difficulty starting or stopping the urinary stream
A weak or interrupted urinary stream
A painful or burning sensation during urination or ejaculation
Blood in urine or semen
Problems with sexual function and performance, such as difficulty achieving erection or
painful ejaculation.
Screening tests:

Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), a blood test
Digital Rectal Examination (DRE), a physical exam
Transrectal ultrasound
Transrectal biopsy
Transperineal biopsy
Serum tumour marker test
Radical inguinal orchiectomy
Treatment:

a) As per Modern Science:
       Treatment of prostate cancer various options are available like, primarily surgery, radiation therapy, proton therapy. Other treatments, such as chemotherapy, cryosurgery, and high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) also exist, depending on the clinical scenario and desired outcome. Also some other alternative medicine treatments like herbal medicine, acupuncture etc.
a) As per Modern Science:
The following categories of herbs are combined in the treatment of prostate cancer;
1. Specific herbs for the urogenital system
2. Herbs having Lekhaniya and Bedhaniya tendencies, for breaking, down tumour
3. Herbs which balance tridosha

All therapy available for treatment of prostate cancer has many side effects. Among all herbal medicine is an important for complete treatment of the prostate cancer because it will balance the all tridosha and safer than other therapy.

References:

The following categories of herbs are combined in the treatment of prostate cancer;
1. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/prostate (Octomber 1,2010)
2. Hsing AW, Chokkalingam AP. "Prostate cancer epidemiology". Frontiers in Bioscience. 11:
1388–413. (2006)
3. Schlaberg R, Choe DJ, Brown KR, Thaker HM, Singh IR. "XMRV is present in malignant prostatic epithelium and is associated with prostate cancer, especially high-grade     tumours". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A..106 (38): 16351–6. (September, 2009)
4. http://www.bccancer.bc.ca (October ,5,2010)
5. Miller DC, Hafez KS, Stewart A, Montie JE, Wei JT. Prostate carcinoma presentation,
diagnosis, and staging: an update form the National Cancer Data Base". Cancer 98.;6: 1169–
78. (2003)"

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