Prostate cancer is often in the media spotlight, but the recent news has been positive. Fergus Bescoby explains.
Prostate cancer often finds a way into our daily newspapers, mostly in the form of warnings about the signs and symptoms to watch out for and what to do if we spot them.
With this in mind, it was refreshing to see a potentially good-news article recently telling us about a new drug that, according to British scientists, could halt the spread of the disease.
Lab tests have apparently found that a designer protein hindered the growth of diseased cells even in conditions where conventional therapies had been ineffective. Even better news is that this could possibly be available to the public within five years.
Existing treatments are good at first but frequently fail after a couple of years. Once the cancer moves to a more aggressive stage, there are few therapies available.
Many of the tumours pose little threat to life, but in a small number of cases they spread more quickly to other areas of the body and can prove fatal.
They are only able to grow when they are exposed to male hormones, such as testosterone, which bind to specific receptors that are targeted by current therapies. However, after an average of two years the cancer becomes resistant to them and the hormones continue to drive the cells.
The new protein reportedly blocks the hormone receptors and consequently stops prostate cancer growing. This is great news considering the disease is the most common type of cancer in men, with around 37,000 new cases diagnosed and 11,000 deaths each year in the UK as a result of prostate cancer - a figure that has almost tripled over the past 30 years.
What is the prostate?
The prostate gland is only found in men. It lies just beneath the bladder, in front of the rectum, and is normally about the size of a chestnut. The urethra (the tube that passes urine from the bladder) runs through the middle of the prostate. Its main function is to produce fluid that protects and enriches sperm.
The prostate often gets gradually bigger after the age of about 50 (benign prostatic hypertrophy), and by the age of 70 about eight in ten men have an enlarged prostate. It is common for older men to have urinary symptoms caused by a benign (non-cancerous) enlargement of the prostate.
What causes prostate Cancer?
The causes of prostate cancer are not yet fully understood. Cases are rare in men aged under 50, but there are certain factors that place some men at higher risk of developing the disease than others:
- Being overweight or obese
- Being of African-Caribbean or African-American descent and living in western countries
- Men with one or more first-degree relatives (father, brother or son) diagnosed with prostate cancer have an increased risk of prostate cancer, especially if the relative was diagnosed before the age of 60
- There is some suggestion that a fat-rich diet may contribute to prostate cancer, but this is not proven.
Tell-tale symptoms
Prostate cancer is often symptomless, but when they do occur symptoms may include frequent and painful urination, blood in the urine or semen and the feeling that the bladder is not emptying fully.
It's important to be aware that there are a number of non-cancerous medical conditions that may also cause these symptoms, such as infection or benign prostate enlargement.
