Health Matters: Screening for prostate cancer

12 Sep, 2011

Health Matters: Screening for prostate cancer

Written by admin

Submitted September 6, 2011 1:46PM

Dr. Greg Goska, an internal medicine physician with Edward Medical Group, recommends prostate cancer screenings begin at age 40 for men if they have risk factors, such as being African American, or having a father, son or brother with a history of prostate cancer.

Updated: September 7, 2011 2:32AM

Some things really are either black or white when it comes to staying healthy. There?s no debate that you should know your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels. But screening for prostate cancer is sometimes shaded gray.

The two screening tools for prostate cancer are the PSA test that determines the amount of prostate-specific antigen in the blood, and the digital rectal exam (DRE), in which the physician feels the prostate gland for possible abnormalities.

If you receive favorable reports, you can breathe easier and feel good about being proactive about your health.

If the screenings flag a potential problem, a biopsy usually follows. This involves removal of a small amount of tissue to be studied in a laboratory. If the biopsy and subsequent tests detect a tumor that appears to be relatively aggressive, you and your doctors will develop a treatment plan. This may involve surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or hormone therapy, or a combination of these treatments.

?Most cancer, if discovered early and localized to the prostate, has a 99 percent survival rate at five years,? says Greg Goska, an internal medicine physician with Edward Medical Group. ?If there is metastasis (spread of cancer to other parts of the body), the survival rate goes down to 33 percent at five years. the patient may also have more treatment options early in the disease.?

However, while prostate cancer is the second most common fatal cancer among men, after lung cancer, some men have such slow-growing prostate tumors that they never cause problems even if untreated.

?While we have some indicators of how aggressive a tumor is likely to be, the science isn?t yet precise in predicting the course of less advanced cases,? Dr. Goska says.

Prostate cancer treatment also can bring side effects of varying degrees and duration. These might include incontinence, rectal problems and impotence. For this reason, screenings are not usually recommended for elderly men or those who aren?t expected to live another 10 years.

Some younger men with early-stage prostate cancer adopt a ?watchful waiting? approach, which includes a vigorous schedule of screenings to track any progression of the disease.

?If a man is uncertain about getting screened, he should talk with his primary care physician at age 50 about the pros and cons of screening in his particular case,? according to Dr. Goska. ?This should happen at age 40 if he has risk factors for the disease, such as being African American, or having a father, son or brother with a history of prostate cancer ? especially if they were diagnosed before age 50. If the man has had genetic testing, he might also know about genetic mutations that increase his risk.?

Men at high risk of prostate cancer might also want to discuss medications to help prevent prostate cancer.

?There?s nothing you can do to guarantee you won?t get prostate cancer,? Dr. Goska says. ?But, eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and fish, getting regular exercise and not smoking may lower your risk.?

To learn more about prostate health, visit www.edward.org/cancer. To learn more about Dr. Goska, whose office is at 130 N. Weber Road, in Bolingbrook, visit www.edwardmedicalgroup.org, or schedule an appointment by calling 630-646-5777.

Health Matters is a weekly column courtesy of Edward Hospital

Health Matters: Screening for prostate cancer

Source: http://thebreakingstory.com/health/health-matters-screening-for-prostate-cancer/8146.html

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