Page 1 - Prostate Cancer Prevention
P. 1
Urological Health
Prostate cancer prevention
Prostate cancer is common in men. There are some steps you can take to try and reduce
your risk of prostate cancer.
rostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed What is cancer?
Pcancer in Canadian men. One out of six
Canadian men will develop prostate cancer during Cells in the body normally grow in an organized,
their lifetime. Prostate cancer is usually curable if controlled manner. There is a balance between
diagnosed early. Even when the disease is advanced, new cells being produced and old cells dying. The
treatment can relieve symptoms and make one live number of cells is approximately the same because
longer. This brochure will will explain many facts about of this balance. When control of this balance is lost,
prostate cancer and suggest some methods for new cells grow more rapidly than old cells die. These
preventing it. cells become abnormal and can form a tumor or
growth. Some of these tumors are called benign (not
cancer) because they grow slowly and do not spread
elsewhere in the body. Other tumors invade and
destroy normal tissue and are called malignant tumors
or cancer. These tumors can spread to other parts
of the body where they can grow (these are called
metastases).
bladder
prostate What is prostate cancer?
urethra
Prostate cancer occurs when cells within the
prostate gland continue to grow uncontrollably
and they may spread to other areas of the body.
Prostate cancer should not be confused with benign
prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which is a very common
noncancerous growth of the prostate and which
can compress the urethra, causing urinary symptoms.
Most prostate cancers do not cause any urinary
What is the prostate? symptoms. A man’s prostate gland naturally grows as
he ages and he may experience difficulty emptying
The prostate is a small gland about the size and his bladder from this process. BPH is not related to
shape of a chestnut. It is situated just below the prostate cancer.
bladder and surrounds the urethra, the passageway
that carries urine from the bladder through the penis Who gets prostate cancer?
during urination. Women do not have a prostate. The
prostate secretes fluid, which forms part of the semen There are some things that we cannot change: for
in which sperm are transported. instance, the genes we inherit from our parents.
Currently, we know that some prostate cancers can
be inherited from a relative. Men with a first-degree
relative (e.g. father, brother) are at increased risk
of developing prostate cancer. Certain races and
ethnic groups are also at increased risk for developing
prostate cancer (e.g. men of African descent).
Generally, the risk of prostate cancer is increased as a
man ages (>55 years of age).
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