Prostate Cancer Symptoms

Symptoms of benign and malignant tumours

As men get older their prostate gland often enlarges. This is usually not due to cancer. It is a condition called 'benign prostatic hyperplasia'. The symptoms of both benign and malignant tumours are similar

Difficulty in passing urine
Passing urine more often than usual, especially at night
Pain on passing urine
Blood in the urine

The last two symptoms - pain and blood - are rare in prostate cancer.

What causes these symptoms?

With both prostate cancers and non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate, the symptoms are usually caused because the growth
Presses on the urethra
Blocks the flow of urine

Remember - if you have any symptoms you should be checked by your doctor. But most enlargements of the prostate are benign. That means they are not cancer and can be easily treated.

Other symptoms of prostate cancer

Cancer of the prostate often grows slowly, especially in older men. Symptoms may be mild and occur over many years. Sometimes the first symptoms are from prostate cancer cells which have spread to your bones. This may cause pain in your
Back
Hips
Pelvis
Other bony areas

This is known as secondary prostate cancer. There is information about the treatment of secondary prostate cancer in this section of CancerHelp UK.Other suspicious symptoms are weight loss, particularly in elderly men, and difficulty getting an erection (where you haven't had difficulty before).

What your GP should do

There are guidelines issued to GPs suggesting what they should look out for, and when they should think about sending you to a specialist. The guidelines say that men who have suspicious symptoms should be offered a PSA Test and a rectal examination. If you have a borderline PSA result, the guidelines say you should have another test in 1 -3 months time to check if it is going up or stable. We can't tell you exactly what reading would be borderline, because it depends on your age.If you have a suspicious PSA reading and other symptoms that could be related to prostate cancer, the guidelines say your GP should consider referring you to a specialist urgently.

Remember - your GP may delay a PSA test for good reason. There are a few situations that can affect the reading and make it less accurate. For example, a urine infection. This should be ruled out before testing, and a test delayed for a month after you've had treatment for a urine infection. If your GP wants to delay doing a test, just ask him or her to explain why.

Points to remember about these guidelines

While reading these guidelines, it is important to remember that
More than 99 out of every 100 men diagnosed with prostate cancer are over 50
About 75 out of every 100 men diagnosed with prostate cancer are over 70
Difficulty passing urine is common in the general population and on its own, is not a reason for your GP to suspect prostate cancer;
The most common symptoms of prostate cancer are a raised PSA blood test bone pain and abnormality found by your GP during an examination of your prostate via your back passage
A normal PSA reading varies depending on your age.
Men with a first degree relative (mother, father, son or daughter) who have prostate or breast cancer are at a higher risk of developing prostate cancer themselves

PSA testing

PSA stands for prostate specific antigen. This is a substance made by normal and cancerous prostate cells and released into the blood stream. The level in your blood goes up in prostate cancer because more PSA leaks into the bloodstream from the cancerous cells. It also goes up with age and if you have a benign enlarged prostate. So it is not a specific test for cancer. There is a range of normal PSA readings for every age. The upper normal limit for someone aged 50 is around 3.0 ng/ml but this increases to 5.0 ng/ml if you are 70.The UK does not have a national policy for PSA testing of all men at a certain age or a national screening programme in place for prostate cancer. If you do not have any symptoms of prostate cancer but still want a PSA test then your GP will need to provide you with information about what to expect from the test

Obesity, Diabetes, Hypertension form deadly trio

It's now a commonly known fact that hypertension, diabetes and obesity pose a risk of cardio-vascular diseases। The lesser known medical truth, however, is that the three form even a deadlier combination. This was revealed at the ongoing annual conference of Indian Society of Hypertension (ISH) recently. The conference which focuses on 'Artherosclerosis in hypertension, diabetes and coronary heart diseases' is being supported by clinical and experimental medicine division, Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) and department of medicine, King George's Medical University (KGMU). Experts said that hypertension, diabetes and obesity generate a condition called metabolic syndrome (MS). Simply speaking, MS is defined as a cluster of the most dangerous heart attack risk factors. A person is said to be having MS has central obesity in addition with two of the following factors: increased triglycerides, reduced HDL-cholesterol, raised blood pressure or raised fasting plasma glucose level. "People with MS are at the risk of cardiovascular disease, being twice as likely to die and three times as likely to have a heart attack or stroke compared to people without the syndrome," explained president, ISH, Dr Sridhar Diwedi. Quoting international diabetes association (IDH) he said that such persons have a five times greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, a condition which is strongly associated with cardiovascular diseases, as up to 80 per cent of almost 200 million adults globally with diabetes will die of cardiovascular disease. According to statistics available at IDF, 1/4th of the world’s adult population suffers with MS. Its frequency increases with the age. However, the condition is also afflicting an increasing number of children and adolescents as the worldwide epidemic of obesity spreads across the age groups. The irony is that the problem is yet to be identified as a health hazard. The key in tackling the metabolic syndrome lies in a better understanding and its early diagnosis and treatment. While no single treatment for the metabolic syndrome available, lifestyle modification forms the underlying strategy of treatment. In cases where lifestyle modification does not help, drug therapy may also be used, the experts suggested. In his inaugural address, chief guest, state representative, UNICEF, Nimal Hettiaratchy said that the topic for the conference was relevant in view of the myth that people in the developing world were away from lifestyle diseases. He stressed on the need of creating awareness on intake of nutritional food and healthy lifestyle.

Aching back can be cured by injecting a gel

Gel that is injected into the spine could prove an alternative to major surgery for the many thousands of people who suffer from lower back pain. Scientists in Manchester plan to test the gel on humans after animal trials have shown it can improve movement. Back pain affects around 80 per cent of people in Britain at some time in their lives, according to the charity BackCare, and is the country’s leading cause of disability.

For between 6 and 8 per cent of the adult population, back pain is caused by degeneration of the discs which hold the vertebrae in the spinal column the right distance apart. This distance is important because nerves pass through openings in the spinal column to other parts of the body, and the discs keep these openings clear. But as a result of wear and tear, the discs lose their ability to keep the vertebrae apart. Strenuous exercise and injuries can make sections of bone break off and damage the disc: it becomes less elastic and a less effective buffer. As a result, the spine compresses and the openings partly close, so bone and disc tissue press on the nerves and cause pain.

Surgeons can treat the problem by removing the sections of disc which are pressing on the nerve. They can also use spinal fusion, welding the vertebrae together in a major procedure which has a considerable recovery time. Fusing the bones together means a loss of flexibility in the spine. Now researchers at the University of Manchester believe they can repair discs by injecting a special gel into the damaged ones. The gel is originally a slightly acid liquid, but contains tiny beads which swell and stiffen when an alkaline substance is added to them. The beauty of the gel is that it can be injected through a tiny aperture into the centre of disc.
When both the liquid and the alkali have been injected in, the gel hardens — this then cushions the vertebrae just as a healthy disc does. Repairing the disc this way means that patients have a shorter recovery time than through surgery, and have restored mobility.

Professor Tony Freemont of the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences at the University of Manchester, who developed the treatment with Dr Brian Saunders from the university’s School of Materials, says: "Our approach has the advantage of restoring spinal mobility whereas spinal fusion surgery results in a significant loss of mobility at the fused and adjacent discs." Surgery can also carry significant risks, says Dr Mike McKiernan, chairman of the board of trustees at the charity BackCare. "Degeneration of the discs causes serious problems for several hundred thousand people, so this is an interesting new development," he says. "It is exciting new research which will give hope to the hundreds of thousands of people with back pain caused by damaged discs." However, Dr Saunders, who helped to develop the gel, has urged caution as the process will take some time to test fully before it becomes fully available. "Although we are encouraged by our findings, much work lies ahead to develop a viable nonsurgical repair technology to replace spinal fusion as the standard surgical treatment for chronic lower back pain," he says. Scientists now hope that the new treatment will become available in four or five years’ time, following Ethics Committee approval and clinical trials.

Sun mission shows turbulent magnetic field

X-ray images taken from a new international spacecraft show that the Sun's magnetic field is much more turbulent than scientists knew Nasa said scientists saw twisting plumes of gas rising from the Sun's corona and reacting with the star's magnetic field, a process that releases energy and may power solar storms and coronal mass ejections, which in turn affect the Earth। A turbulent magnetic field would, in theory, generate more energy than a steady-state field। "Theorists suggested that twisted, tangled magnetic fields might exist,'' Leon Golub, senior astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, said। "With the X-Ray Telescope, we can see them clearly for the first time.'' The spacecraft, named Hinode from the Japanese word for sunrise, was launched in September with an array of carefully designed instruments, each looking at a different layer of the Sun. It is a joint project of the US, European and Japanese space agencies and Britain's Particle Physics Astronomy Research Council. "For the first time, we are now able to make out tiny granules of hot gas that rise and fall in the sun's magnetised atmosphere,'' Dick Fisher, director of NASA's Heliophysics Division, said."These images will open a new era of study on some of the sun's processes that affect Earth, astronauts, orbiting satellites and the solar system.'' The scientists said they were surprised and delighted by the findings. "It's going to put us in a whole new realm of understanding,'' Mr Golub said॥ "Everything we thought we knew about X-ray images of the sun is out of date.'' The X-Ray Telescope, or XRT, collects X-rays emitted from the Sun's corona - the outer layer of the Sun that mystifies scientists in part because it is 100 times hotter than the Sun's actual surface. They hope the observations can help explain and perhaps predict space weather -- the ejections from the Sun that can disable satellites, knock out electricity grids on Earth and cause the spectacular auroras in extreme northern and southern skies. "Hinode images are revealing irrefutable evidence for the presence of turbulence-driven processes that are bringing magnetic fields, on all scales, to the sun's surface, resulting in an extremely dynamic chromosphere or gaseous envelope around the sun,'' physicist Alan Title said.

Junk food diet linked to cancer in women

Eating junk food raises women's risk of developing a range of cancers, researchers said yesterday. Two studies demonstrated the dangers of a diet that includes high levels of fat and processed foods.

A major European study shows that women with raised levels of blood sugar face significant extra risks of suffering cancers of the pancreas, skin, womb and urinary tract. And older women with the fattiest diets have a 15 per cent increase in their chances of developing breast cancer, according to a U.S. study.

It found fat intake levels of 40 per cent of diet put women most at risk. Levels rated as 'high' in the study were close to the British average of 38 per cent.
High blood sugar levels are linked to unhealthy diets, including fatty and processed foods, and can lead to Type 2 diabetes. Previous research has shown an increased risk of cancer in patients with this form of diabetes, which usually occurs in middle age.

But the new findings demonstrate that rising blood sugar levels also increase the cancer risk in women. It shows that the 25 per cent of women with the highest blood sugar readings had a 26 per cent greater chance of developing cancer than those with readings in the bottom quarter bracket. For women before the menopause with high blood sugar, there was also an increase in breast cancer risk. Almost 65,000 adults took part in the 13-year study, but no link was found in men. Researchers identified 2,478 cases of cancer.

The scientists, led by Dr Par Stattin, from Umea University Hospital in Sweden, also observed a general increase in blood sugar levels. Raised blood sugar levels in men appeared to protect against prostate cancer, though not to a significant degree. The research was partly paid for by the World Cancer Research Fund. Dr Greg Martin, science and research manager for WCRF UK, said: "The results of this research are concerning. However, the good news is that it is possible to reduce your blood sugar levels by eating a healthy balanced diet with lots of fruit and vegetables and maintaining a healthy weight. "We know that up to 40 per cent of cancer cases can be prevented by this type of healthy lifestyle, so this is just another reason for people to make those small changes that could make a big difference." Natasha Marsland, care manager at Diabetes UK said: "This is an interesting study. However, much more research needs to be done before we can conclude if there is a link between high blood glucose levels and cancer." U.S. researchers at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, found that post-menopausal women who eat a high-fat diet may be at greater risk of breast cancer.

They questioned 188,000 postmenopausal women about how often they ate certain foods how much of the foods they consumed to determine how fat intake affects breast cancer risk. Of the women surveyed, 3,500 developed invasive breast cancer, according to the study, which is published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The researchers found that doubling fat intake, from 20 per cent to 40 per cent, was associated with a 15 per cent rise in breast cancer risk. The increase was similar for all types of fat - saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.
Dr Anne Thiebaut, who led the researchers, said: "We detected a direct association between fat intake and the risk of invasive breast cancer." Scientists have still to establish how fat in the diet promotes breast cancer. But it may work by leading to greater body stores of fat which in turn produce higher circulating levels of the hormone oestrogen. This is known to trigger breast tumours. Dr Emma Pennery, nurse consultant at Breast Cancer Care, said: "Whilst this research adds to existing evidence in this area, other studies have not reached the same conclusions so we are still some way off understanding the exact influence of a high fat diet. "However, a high fat diet can lead to weight gain and it is widely accepted that being overweight, particularly after the menopause, increases the risk of breast cancer."

Leukemia survivors prone to other cancers

People treated for leukemia in the childhood are much more prone to other types of cancer later in their lives, a study published on Tuesday, revealed। The study, held at St। Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, involved 2169 people who were treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia as children and adolescents between 1962 and 1998। As their cancer decreased considerably, their health was monitored for nineteen years on average. The researchers found that childhood leukemia survivors faced 13.5 times more threat of developing other types of cancers than the general population. The study further showed that the occurrence of new cancer increased over 30 years of their leukemia treatment. Among the 1290 patients who remained in complete remission, about 10 per cent developed other forms of cancer, with a relatively rapid increase starting 20 years after the original treatment. St. Jude’s Dr. Nobuko Hijiya, who led the study, emphasized on the need to closely monitor the health of childhood cancer survivors for decades after their original treatment. The majority of cancers the patients developed were those that respond well to treatment like meningioma and basal cell carcinoma, but some were very serious, the researchers stated. Not ruling out genetic factors as playing a role, the researchers also said that chemotherapy and radiation treatments used on childhood leukemia patients partially accounts for the increased risk.

40 Million years without Sex

A group of microscopic aquatic animals have managed to evolve into many separate species over the past 40 million years without sexual reproduction, according to a study published on Tuesday.

The curious case of the organisms challenges the assumption that sexual reproduction is necessary for species to diverge, the authors contend.

Scanning electron micrographs show physical variations among bdelloid rotifers which suggest the aquatic animals have split into different species.(Diego Fontaneto/PLoS Biology)

The research, published in PLoS Biology, focused on bdelloid rotifers, a group of microscopic aquatic animals that live in ponds, rivers, and occasionally wet habitats like soils, mosses and lichens. Bdelloid rotifers are asexual and multiply by producing eggs that are genetic clones of the mother. There are no males, just females.

Asexual animals and plants can evolve and mutate over time, but usually do not diversify any further and do not usually last long. But fossil records of bdelloid rotifers show the creatures have been around for more than 40 million years.

And like creatures that sexually reproduce, the study found the bdelloid rotifers have managed to evolve into hundreds of distinct species uniquely adapted to their environments: allowing some to prosper in hot springs while other swim in Antarctic waters.

Biologists Diego Fontaneto from the University of Milan, Timothy Barraclough from Imperial College London and a team of international scientists found evidence of distinct species of the bdelloid rotifers by comparing DNA sequencing and jaw measurements of animals living across the U.K., Italy and other parts of the world.

"We found evidence that different populations of these creatures have diverged into distinct species, not just because they become isolated in different places, but because of the differing selection pressures in different environments," said Barraclough in a statement.

"One remarkable example is of two species living in close proximity on the body of another animal, a water louse," he said. "One lives around its legs, the other on its chest, yet they have diverged in body size and jaw shape to occupy these distinct ecological niches.

"Our results show that, over millions of years, natural selection has caused divergence into distinct entities equivalent to the species found in sexual organisms."

Sexual reproduction was long thought to be necessary for species to split into divergent species because interbreeding introduced genetic variety to the offspring, the authors said. But they argue the case of bdelloid rotifers disproves this theory.

The conclusion, however, still leaves the scientists with another question: how do these other species diverge without new genetic material added to the mix? It's a question they are still puzzling over.

"These really are amazing creatures, whose very existence calls into question scientific understanding, because it is generally thought that asexual creatures die out quickly, but these have been around for millions of years," said Barraclough.

Genetically-Tailored Mosquitoes May Uproot Malaria

Genetically-Tailored mosquitoes that are defiant to the malarial parasite may be the first step in the annihilation of the deadly disease from the earth. These mosquitoes have the ability to thrive in the wild and outgrow normal mosquitoes, which are the carriers of malaria, scientist at the Malaria Research Institute at Johns Hopkins University said. The genetically-engineered mosquitoes are equipped with an additional gene that halts the plasmodium parasite, which causes malaria. Lead researcher Marcelo Jacobs-Lorena and colleagues released 1,200 genetically modified mosquitoes into a cage containing malaria-infested mice.

The researchers observed subsequent generations of mosquitoes and noted the pre-dominance of transgenic mosquitoes. The cage also held an equal number of wild malaria-causing mosquitoes. In Addition 70% of the mosquitoes were malaria-resistant nine(9) generations after the experiment began.“To our knowledge, no-one has previously reported a demonstration that transgenic mosquitoes can exhibit a fitness advantage over non-transgenics. This fitness advantage has important implications for devising malaria control strategies,” the researchers wrote in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Malaria is a deadly disease caused by a parasite that can infect humans. There are four types of malarial parasite, which can cause serious illness to man. These include Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malariae. Among them infection with P. falciparum has the potential to be fatal if prompt treatment is not given.

The WHO (World Health Organization) estimates that each year 300-500 million cases of malaria occur worldwide and more than 1 million people die of malaria. It has become an endemic condition in sub-Saharan Africa where, a child dies from malaria every 30 seconds. The disease presents as fever, sweats, chills, headaches, malaise, muscles aches, nausea and vomiting.An eradication campaign to uproot malaria was launched in the 1950s, but failed because the malaria parasites developed resistance to drugs used to treat them and also because the mosquitoes became resistant to insecticides used to kill them.A strategy that was advocated was to develop genetically altered insects, which would resist infection with the malarial parasite. Ever since scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) mapped out a high-resolution genetic map of Plasmodium falciparum in 1999, scientists have thought about genetically modifying mosquitoes to bar entry of the malarial parasite.

Marcelo Jacobs-Lorena and colleagues have realized that strategy. "What we have shown in this work that will be published is that the mosquito that carries the gene has an advantage if it bites an infected individual," he said. Researchers are hopeful of conducting trials in sub-Saharan Africa in the next five years.However the next step is to prove that these genetically altered mosquitoes do not trigger a more aggressive form of malaria, or spread to other insects. "We have to be absolutely sure that any genetically modified mosquito does not cause any harm in the environment or cause unpredictable harm to people that they bite," Jacobs-Lorena agreed. "But I think we are on the way."