Prostate cancer is the most common occurring cancer in men worldwide, and thus is an incredibly serious issue. Prostate cancer is a cancer that occurs in the prostate gland, which is part of the male reproductive system. The prostate gland is the size of a large walnut, and it is located just below the bladder and next to the urethra.

Prostate cancer starts in the glandular tissue of the prostate gland, and although the exact cause of this cancer is unknown, what is known is that the cancer most often occurs in men over the age of fifty, with married men for some reason being at much higher risk than single men.

Prostate Cancer Treatments

Although as of yet there is no cure for prostate cancer, there are various prostate cancer treatments that are available to help you. One of the most common prostate cancer treatments is surgery, and surgical removal of the prostate, also known as radical prostatectomy, is available to many men who are suffering from localized prostate cancer.

This surgery involves the removal of the prostate and as well the surrounding tissues, a specified portion of the urethra, and the seminal vesicles. During the surgery when the prostate is being removed, the surgeon will attempt to save the nerves that are surrounding the prostate, those which are responsible for erections. This however is not guaranteed.

External beam radiation is another of the more common prostate cancer treatments, and it is one that is more readily available, and in which beams of high-energy radiation are directed from outside the body towards a target inside of the body. Hormone therapy is yet another of the most popular prostate cancer treatments, and is actually one of the oldest means of treating prostate cancer as well.

Hormone therapy is also known as androgen deprivation therapy, and the point or goal of it is to reduce levels of the male hormones, or androgens, in the body, as these can actually be responsible for helping the disease to spread. Therefore, lowering the levels of these androgens will often make the prostate cancer shrink or at least grow more slowly.

Hormone therapy is typically used in the following situations: if your prostate cancer remains or comes back after treatment with surgery or radiation therapy, as an addition to radiation therapy as initial treatment if you are at high risk for cancer recurrence, before surgery or radiation to try and shrink the cancer to make other treatments more effective, and if you are not able to have surgery or radiation treatments.

The particular type of treatment that you should use for your prostate cancer will be decided by your doctor, and you should never attempt getting involved with any method of treatment without referral from your physician first.

Prostate cancer is a very common disease among males in the United State. If skin cancer is excluded, prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer among men living in the United States. Prostate cancer may have much variation in the stage and extend of disease at presentation and in many people the cancer might linger for a long period of time without causing any significant problems to the person. Because of this reason, number of men who would die from prostate cancer is much smaller than the number of men who would be diagnosed with prostate cancer.

There are several factors that might increase the risk of developing prostate cancer and by modifying some of these factors it might be possible to decrease the risk of this disease in some people. Also some attempts at modification of the external environment may also reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer.

Chemoprevention: The term chemoprevention is generally referred to the use of synthetic drugs, vitamins, or other agents to prevent the development of a cancer. Several drugs have shown potential benefits as prostate cancer prevention agents. These drugs are still in early stages of clinical trials and much more studies are required to authoritative state that these drugs indeed prevent the development of prostate cancer. Some of the drugs which are in active clinical trial for prevention of prostate cancer include, difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), isoflavonoids, selinum, vitamin D, vitamin E and lycopene.

Changes in diet and life-style: Diets rich in animal fats might increase the risk of developing prostate cancer, so theoretically decreasing the amount of animal fat in the diet might decrease the risk of developing prostate cancer. Active clinical trials are ongoing focusing on the issues of dietary modification as a way of prostate cancer prevention. Some of the ongoing studies might answer the question if food low in animal fats and high in fruits and vegetables would ultimately decrease the risk of prostate cancer. Some recent studies have shown that dietary products and diets rich in calcium might increase the risk of developing prostate cancer. Future studies may answer the question with regard to benefit of dietary modification in the context of prostate cancer.

Hormonal prevention: Prostate cancer is treated with suppression of male hormone testosterone. In theory drugs that would cause a decrease in the testosterone levels might decrease the risk of prostate cancer development. Studies are undergoing using some of the male hormone blocking drugs to see if this strategy would be effective in prostate cancer prevention. An example of one such drug is finasteride, which causes a decrease in the amount of male hormone (testosterone) produced by the body.

In summary there are several strategies that might be effectively used to prevent the development of prostate cancer. Some of these strategies are more promising than other ones and only more work and research would ultimately show us, which of these strategies are better and if so if these strategies could be used in combination.