Advances In Prostate Cancer

Dr. Aditi Dewan Pathologist, CORE Diagnostics

What is Prostate Cancer?

Prostate cancer is a cancer that arises in the prostate gland, a small reproductive organ in men that is responsible for producing the seminal fluid that nourishes and transports the sperm. The exact cause is not known, however it arises when normal prostate cells undergo mutations, proliferate rapidly and accumalate to form a tumor.

Rise of Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is rising fast and becoming an epidemic globally as well as in India. The rate of prostate cancer is 10 per one lakh population that is higher than in other parts of Asia and even Africa.

Prostate is the second leading cause of cancer in men in metros like Kolkata, Delhi, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram. One of the reasons that has contributed to this rise is increased screening for PSA levels.

Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer

Before the treatment comes the diagnosis. There are many ways of diagnosis. Even the process of diagnosing whether a person is suffering from this cancer is not has evolved over the years.

The traditional method to diagnose is to check serum PSA levels followed by a Digital rectal examination (DRE). A change from prior values (more than 0.35 ng/mL/year for a PSA of <4.0 or 0.75 ng/mL if the PSA is >4.0) should be considered suspicious. Transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) is used to confirm the abnormalities detected on DRE as well as guide sites for a sextant biopsy. This creates black & white images of prostate gland using sound waves and may show the tumor as a isoechoic to hypoechoic area.