Each year approximately 233,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer (Eggener, Cifu, & Nabhan, 2015). In 2015, prostate cancer was the second most common cancer related cause of death among United States men (Eggener, et. al., 2015). While the majority of prostate cancers are slow growing with a 5-year survival rate of approximately 98%, statistics show that when prostate cancer is identified as metastatic, the 5-year survival rate dramatically drops down to 20-25% (Eggener, et. al., 2015). According to these numbers alone, it appears screening for prostate cancer would be a well-accepted practice. However, current methods of screening for this cancer are controversial and has lead organizations like the U.S Preventative Service Task Force (USPSTF) and the American Cancer Society (ACS) to different guidelines for screening.
Organizations are not the only ones at odds with current screening methods. Depending on which organization a physician prefers to follow, a patient may be told to have PSA screening by one physician and be advised to avoid PSA screening by another physician. There are several different factors why this screening is controversial. The most important is the sensitivity and specificity of PSA screening. Research has shown that PSA screening presents with an unusually high amount of false positive results (U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, 2012). This raises some concerns whether the benefit of screening outweighs the possibility of over
TREATMENT of localized prostate cancer usually includes prostatectomy and radiation therapy, occasionally augmented with hormonal therapies. However, Fu et al., (2012) have noted that recurrence of prostate cancer occurs in about 15% of patients within 5 years after prostatectomy and in about 40% patients within 10 years. Although, more than 70% of patients are expected to survive for more than 10 years after prostatectomy, radiation or hormone therapy, Cooperberg et al.,(2010) argued that localized prostate cancer patients with intermediate or high risk scores have higher mortality rate after these treatments. With chemotherapies as the existing treatment options for metastatic prostate cancers, patients are expected to have only a median survival of 12-15 months. Bono et al.,(2006). However, most of these traditional treatments are invasive and riddled with adverse side effects. Therefore, novel therapies are on high demand for the treatment of the malignant and recurrent forms of prostate cancer after these
In Jessica Harris’s “The Culinary Season of my Childhood” she peels away at the layers of how food and a food based atmosphere affected her life in a positive way. Food to her represented an extension of culture along with gatherings of family which built the basis for her cultural identity throughout her life. Harris shares various anecdotes that exemplify how certain memories regarding food as well as the varied characteristics of her cultures’ cuisine left a lasting imprint on how she began to view food and continued to proceeding forward. she stats “My family, like many others long separated from the south, raised me in ways that continued their eating traditions, so now I can head south and sop biscuits in gravy, suck chewy bits of fat from a pigs foot spattered with hot sauce, and yes’m and no’m with the best of ‘em,.” (Pg. 109 Para). Similarly, since I am Jamaican, food remains something that holds high importance in my life due to how my family prepared, flavored, and built a food-based atmosphere. They extended the same traditions from their country of origin within the new society they were thrusted into. The impact of food and how it has factors to comfort, heal, and bring people together holds high relevance in how my self-identity was shaped regarding food.
There are multiple methods for screening for Prostate Cancer; the most common is Digital Rectal Examination. During a digital rectal exam a doctor inserts a glove, lubricated finger into the rectum to feel for any irregular or abnormal firm area in the prostate gland.
The fact is African-American men have the 2nd highest five-year survival rate in the world, after U.S. white men. If race then does not matter, then why do Blacks still have a higher incidence and mortality from prostate cancer? We can break the factors into categories related to incidence and/or
. Jettowyne, (The Compassionate Friends, 2011, November 4), stated, “Friends don’t want to say your child’s name, because they think it will make you feel bad”. Being open and asking or commenting on the child is essential in the healing process and showing support.
The first reason being the level accuracy of PSA testing is questionable. The test determines a positive for the cancer based on the levels of prostate-specific antigens in the blood of the patient, which can be abnormally high for multiple other reasons not related to prostate cancer. The major evidence supporting said claim is that individuals with more than 4.0 ng per mL (the threshold to test positive) can have false positive rates of 70% (Mulhem 2). The second reason would be the implications of testing positive for prostate cancer, including but not limited to unnecessary treatment of the disease. While the analysis does not back up unnecessary treatment with any statistical evidence, it does go to explain further tests and procedures to confirm and understand the nature of the patient’s condition. This bleeds over to the negative physical and psychological side-effects of regular prostate cancer screening cited by the analysis. Mulhem explains that after testing positive for prostate cancer, more tests are performed to determine the accuracy of the screening and if so, reveal the specificities of the cancer. The most common of these tests being the prostate biopsy, a procedure that causes a significant portion of participants to develop moderate to severe problems requiring a follow-up with their doctor (Mulhem
Prostate cancer is the one of the most lethal disease in the United Sates. The pattern of disease recurrence being the major cause of morbidity and mortality. In spite of recent advances in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms responsible for the development of prostate cancer, the survival rate of men with this disease has remained relatively unchanged in over the decades. Since the Nobel prize winning discovery by Dr. Huggins and Dr. Hodges (Huggins C., 1941) androgen deprivation therapy is being used by over a half of a century as a primary treatment for advanced prostate cancer. Even though androgen deprivation therapy remains a palliative treatment which lasts around 2-3 years on average, and turn to hormone-refractory (androgen-independent) prostate cancer with castrate level of testosterone. However, studies from the Sawyers group and others found that castration-resistant prostate cancers (CRPCs) remains on androgen receptor (AR) signaling which is reactivated despite low serum androgen levels and targeting the androgen receptor (AR)-signaling pathway remains a keystone of treatment.
Today, prostate cancer is usually detected through screening, and there are two methods for early detection. The prostate-specific antigen test (PSA) is used, but there are
In the case for PSA screening, PCa is the leading internal malignancy in US men and the second leading cause of cancer death in American men. Early detection of prostate cancers offers the best chance of cure. The PSA blood test is the best chance of cure. Currently, the PSA blood test is the best currently available way to detect PCa and it is easy, safe and inexpensive. PSA test results is a piece of information, it is what doctors do with the information that becomes the issue. However, the great majority of PSA detected tumors have the histologic characteristics of clinically important cancers. Also, PSA detection has found tumors early advancing the diagnosis by Seeral years (5-13) and prostate cancer mortality rates in U.S have decreased by 4% (patho book) since 1992, which is 5 years after initiation of prostate screenings. The dilemma is over treating the clinically unimportant disease versus under
While many illnesses and diseases are well understood, prostate cancer is one of the remaining cancerous conditions that is shrouded in misunderstanding. There are several main reasons for this, not the least of which is that men as a group, simply do not want to deal with this very common no cancerous condition.
Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer in American men after skin cancer. There are many risk factors that increase the disease such as age, being the far most important risk factor, along with race, family history and diet (ASCO, 2015). The prostate is a walnut shaped gland of the male reproductive system that functions to create part of the semen, which is fluid in which sperm swim in when ejaculation occurs. It is located inferior to the bladder, anterior to the rectum, surrounding the urethra. For this reason, when a prostate becomes abnormal, many signs and symptoms manifest themselves when a male urinates. When the prostate becomes enlarged by cancer or any other disease, it blocks the neck of the urethra causing a weak stream,
Prostate cancer is the most common type of carcinoma and the second leading cause of cancer death in men, following carcinoma of the lung. The risk of developing prostate cancer increases with age, beginning at age 50, and is also higher among African-American men. The two highest age subpopulations diagnosed are men 55-64 and 65-74 years of age, comprising 29.0% and 35.6% of all prostate cancer diagnoses, respectively. The age-adjusted incidence rate of prostate cancer is 159.3 per 100,000 men per year2.
This report provides a holistic scope of prostate cancer (PCa) from prevention, pathology, diagnostic screening, pharmacology, and treatment methods. It also incorporates statistical data, and provides a case study that helps the prospective nursing student to analyze its implications for their practice. The current methods for PCa diagnostics is often times not conclusive, and this causes a controversial decision to be made by the patient and the healthcare provider to either perform a surgery to remove the prostate, or a wait-and-see method of progression. The gold standard for diagnostic screening for PCa has long been prostate specific antigen (PSA); however newer methods are coming to light that enhance the PCA screening by adding additional biomarkers and advanced algorithms that help to reduce over-diagnosis of PCa. The bright side to this disease is two-fold: it mainly effects those in older age, and early detection can account for a 95% success rate up to 15 years after detection.
Aberger et al. (2014) argued that these assessments are cost-effective, for by identifying testicular cancer before its advanced stages, the cost-savings is about double than the cost associated with the time and resources it takes for a testicular assessment. Therefore, the nurse practitioner should consider this in one’s practice. Unfortunately, the authority of the USPSTF declares testicular screening to be unnecessary (Aberger et al., 2014). Perhaps the actual assessment is unnecessary, but the information and education about testicular cancer can be priceless in helping at-risk males find abnormalities sooner rather than later in advanced
Screening for prostate cancer is controversial. Currently the American Cancer Society and US Preventive Services Task Force recommend patients to discuss the risks/benefits of prostate screening with MD beginning at age 50 for men of average risk who have at least 10-yr life expectancy. Certainly, high risk patients (African Americans, family history) should have the discussion with their earlier (beginning at age 45).