prostate cancer austin

Cancer of the prostate cancer austin

In the US, prostate cancer austin becomes a second cause of death due to cancer in men. Prostate cancer, though, is curable and very treatable if found early.

We use the latest methods to diagnose, treat, and manage prostate cancers at Austin Urology Institute. From the newest, most minimally invasive techniques to remove even more aggressive malignancies to observing low-grade cancers, we can do that.

Information about prostate cancer

Anatomy and function of the prostate cancer austin?

Prostate is a walnut-sized gland located in males directly below the bladder. It surrounds the top part of the urethra, from where urine passes out. The function of the prostate is to produce fluids that constitute semen. Diverse conditions can be partly attributed to male’s prostates, with cancers, prostatitis (infection of prostate cancer austin), and benign prostatic hyperplasia commonly identified as a result of these glands.

Prostate cancer—what is it?

Due to its great importance, prostate cancer austin cancer is considered a leading medical problem in the United States. Though compared to other cancers, this may not necessarily cause symptoms or even extend beyond the confines of the prostate gland during a man’s lifetime if he is quiet about the disease. This is true for a few men, especially older men who have a shorter life expectancy and are affected by this disease. There are times when this cancer is very small in dimensions, grows slowly, and even doesn’t cause much threat to the patient. Other times it may be that it expands rapidly. Prostate cancers that compromise a man’s life or his wellbeing are termed clinically significant.

Prostate cancer: what causes it?

Much work continues to be done to identify the etiologic cause of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer likely results from multiple causes. Prostate cancer is primarily detected in aging men; incidence is rare before age 40 but rapidly increases thereafter.

What are the risk factors for prostate cancer Austin?

Family history: prostate cancer austin is more common in men with a positive family history of prostate cancer. The number of first-degree relatives, whether father, brother, or uncle who have prostate cancer, and the age at onset will influence the risk.

Ethnicity: African Americans: More than 200 per 100,000 black men; African Americans are the most at-risk group. Additionally, AA men generally had a poorer prognosis and more advanced disease at presentation compared to Caucasian or Asian men.

Obesity: It is more than well established that a history of obesity increases the odds of death from prostate cancer. Thus, the most effective way of preventing prostate cancer-specific deaths is probably avoiding the development of obesity and, in individuals who already have developed it, to lose as much weight as possible and maintain that loss.

Intake of supplementary specific dietary factors may help decrease the risk of prostate cancer. Lycopene and fish oil are two materials in this category. Antioxidant lycopene can inhibit cells from becoming cancerous.

Who would be evaluated for a prostate cancer screening?

There is perhaps no easier means of detecting prostate cancer austin during the initial stages than to be consistent with screenings. This could include a prostate exam, called a digital rectal exam, and a blood test for PSA, which your urologist or even your primary care physician can provide.

The following are based upon the guidelines from the American Urological Association, or AUA:

• A majority of men should be screened at age 55 and above, but there is no need for screening among men below 55 years and who have no other risk factors.
• Decisions with respect to prostate cancer screening should be made, taking into account the specific risk factors of males under age 55, such as a positive family history or race being African American.
• Low-risk individuals aged 55 to 70 are screened every one to two years.
• One can continue being screened if one anticipates living for more than ten years after having attained seventy years of age.

He or she will continue to check PSA levels from time to time until these levels stabilize if the doctor thinks the result of the screening was ambiguous. Medical Health In Us

Why should screening be talked about?

Every patient has a particular story to tell, and even though routine screening is advocated for, the doctor may continue on with further diagnoses and treatment according to the circumstances. Health care providers are increasingly asking questions regarding the overdiagnosis and overtreatment of prostate cancer. This should not change the fact that screening for cancer is an essential process. Patients could be put on prostate biopsy, for example, if there are already cancerous cells in the body of their physician. We also believe that there is no need for every patient. 

Do any of the symptoms point specifically to prostate cancer?

Prostate cancer typically causes no symptoms whatsoever, especially in the early stages of the disease. Should symptoms occur, they may include pelvic pain, blood in the urine or semen, and bone pain. These are again rare unless the prostate cancer is quite advanced and/or has metastasized to another part of the body.

How is prostate cancer austin identified or diagnosed?

Tests that are currently being used for prostate cancer detection include PSA coupled with the DRE. By American Urological Association recommendation, all men aged 55 through 70 years should receive the PSA and DRE test every two years to screen for prostate cancer. Males who belong to the high-risk group, for instance, those with African-American heritage or family history, should start their screening annually before reaching 55 years of age. We recommend continued follow-up if a male’s life expectancy is more than ten years with an age of more than 70.

DRE (digital rectal exam): A gloved finger is inserted into the rectum to check for anomalies in size, shape, or consistency of the prostate gland. This is called a DRE, short for digital rectal exam.

PSA (prostate-specific antigen): A blood test for prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, is normally performed with DRE to boost the probability of diagnosing prostate cancer. The test measures the amount of PSA in the blood; PSA is a chemical that the prostate alone generates. Although the prostate exclusively secretes the PSA, carcinoma of the prostate is not necessarily being targeted by the PSA. Prostate inflammation or benign enlargement may also cause a high PSA. Therefore, it is PSA density, PSA velocity, age-specific reference ranges, and free-to-total PSA ratios that can better support the detection of cancer.

Prostate Health Index (PHI) Test: A new test that combines three prostate tests may help identify men who may require further or redundant testing while reducing the number of affected men who will need a biopsy. Read More About Health

Genetic Tests: There are a large number of new genetic tests that can inform us of the level of aggressiveness present in each individual case of prostate cancer. We can use such tests to decide how to treat the prostate cancer most appropriately. They are also very helpful for the patients who would like to know the chances of the return of a particular cancer after undergoing therapy for prostate cancer. Other genetic tests check the progression of the cell cycle. Others check for cancer-typical markers of prostate carcinoma. More still examine DNA methylation, which provides an assessment of the percentage of chromosomes and DNA that can activate or silence genes. All of these tests include consideration of the patient’s health, together with any family or medical history, when conducting a PSA blood test. They look after the patient, but they do not make decisions about treatment.

MRI of the prostate: In addition to DRE, prostate MRI adds more methods for identifying prostate masses and tumors. It is his discretion how the physician uses this information; it can be used to establish the presence of a tumor before a biopsy or after prostate cancer has been diagnosed to identify any extension directly outside of the prostate capsule, a very useful piece of information during surgery.

Prostate biopsy: When prostate cancer is highly suspected, then the procedure involves carrying a biopsy (elevated PSA, positive PCA-3). It takes usually fifteen minutes for the procedure. We are going to numb your prostate with lidocaine. So, when the prostate is numb, you can’t feel anything. A representative sample of tissue is obtained from various regions of the prostate. The pathologist later receives this tissue for examination. A “Gleason Score” is assigned to the biopsy sample by the pathologist. One method of classifying prostate cancer is the Gleason Score. To prevent infection, you will receive an antibiotic to take before the procedure, during the procedure, and after. The night before the biopsy, an enema and a clear liquid diet are another precautionary measure, just to minimize the chances of infection. Common side effects after a prostate biopsy include minor rectal bleeding, blood in the semen, burning sensation while urinating, pain or discomfort in the groin region, and sexual abstinence for about a week. Avoid heavy lifting and straining during bowel movements for 48 hours at least.

These are minor inconveniences, which will be solved in a day or so. If you do have a fever over 101.4 F, feel chill, nausea, or vomiting, then call our office immediately or go to the ER.

Procedure of Prostate Biopsy

Procedure (Robotic Laparoscopic Prostatectomy)

He is one of the first surgeons in the region to offer this service and is proud to be able to serve Central Texas. Shaw graduated in 2000 from Tulane University in New Orleans. Since 2004, he has been performing robotic-assisted prostatectomies in Austin. A radical robotic prostatectomy is performed to thoroughly remove the prostate and seminal vesicles. At ten years, patients with prostate cancer that is limited to the prostate had a greater than 90% likelihood of recovery with surgery alone (assuming an undetectable PSA). The majority of patients have little pain and can leave the hospital in 48 hours with five tiny incisions no larger than a dime. The primary adverse effects of times . 

The surgeon operates the robot from about ten feet away. The movements of the robotic arms, which appear so delicate and light, would radical prostatectomy, apart from the relatively low incidence of surgical complications, are urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction.

Patients will need to stay in the hospital for at least 24 to 48 hours after the two to three hours of inpatient surgery. Since general anesthesia is used, you will be unconscious through it all. Because of robotics, we can now perform the surgery with fewer incisions, and faster recovery surely helps to make the surgery go as smoothly as possible. We take in the seminal vesicles, which are adjacent tissues. Where and how extensive the disease is will decide if we’re able to preserve nerves surrounding the prostate. Then we close the incisions, then anastomose the urethra to the bladder. At your follow-up appointment, we will review the pathology report that was sent out to study the prostate and seminal vesicles.

Building Sustainable Solution of Health

Before Surgery:

• You will make a time and date for the procedure by contacting our surgical scheduler after you decide to have a prostatectomy.
• Pre-operative clearance should be done at the hospital or with your physician. These usually involve lab work including blood, urine culture and analysis, EKG, and chest x-rays.
• Before and after the procedure, it is done before and after the procedure to assist you in regaining urinary incontinence following surgery. You will be seen by a physical therapist with expertise in pelvic floor muscle rehabilitation.
• ONE WEEK PRIOR TO THE SURGERY Aspirin and other blood-thinning medications must be discontinued, such as fish oils, vitamin E, and NSAIDs. Other medications may need to be discontinued up to a week prior, as decided by your treating physician, including warfarin, Plavix, Coumadin, etc.
• You can have a light breakfast and a clear liquid diet for the rest of the day on the day before surgery.

Many postoperative anticipations are:

• You will have a catheter in place to go home. This drains your bladder into a bag in the operating room.
• We remove the catheter from our patients in clinic at their post-operative appointment.
• You will be treated with approximately three days of antibiotics postsurgery.
• Recovery times are between four and six weeks. Avoid high-intensity exercise for one week. Then you may increase your activity gradually by around 10 pounds per week.
• When leaving the hospital, your pain should be at its minimum. You will likely need only Tylenol or Ibuprofen while home after receiving what you will have had while there.
• You can resume your regular bathing routine from the time you leave the hospital.
• Urine leakage is an ordinary and expected postoperative consequence. Most patients generally do dramatically improve within two to three months with pelvic floor physical therapy, and by six months, most of them are completely continent-meaning they can hold their pee.

Another very common side effect of surgery is rectile dysfunction, caused when some of the surrounding nerves are cut. You can begin erectile rehabilitation immediately your recovery is near. We will discuss your treatment options with you at one of your postoperative visits. This usually involves taking medication. Therapy should be initiated as early as possible after surgery if erectile function is of significance to you. The chances that your nerves will react to trigger an erection decrease with time.

Radiation

Radiation therapy is appropriate both for the primary and adjuvant treatment of localized prostate carcinoma as well as recurrent disease in the prostate area. Patients who cannot be treated with surgery, or those who do not want to undergo surgery, are usually assigned to one or both of these types of therapy. Radiation treatment is given by a radiation oncologist for a course determined by the type of radiation to be utilized.

External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT): These X-rays cause damage to the DNA of tumor cells, which kills the cells. The period of radiation exposure is short, that is, a few minutes. Once the treatment of prostate cancer is over, there is nothing to fear about radiation because nothing remains in the body. This kind of treatment does not cause pain, as the whole procedure is non-invasive of . In the majority of patients, eight weeks are required for the initial course therapy for localized prostate cancer.

Brachytherapy: Also known as a “prostate implant” or “seed therapy.” Tiny radioactive “seeds” are implanted within the prostate as part of brachytherapy. The seed implant is done as an outpatient surgery under anesthesia. There are few long-term risks associated with this therapy, and the radioactivity of the seeds decreases over the weeks to months after surgery.

Prostate radiation therapy makes surgical removal of the prostate intensely difficult and is not typically considered for use as a treatment course. However, it can be used if the recurrence of prostate cancer occurs after surgery. The side effects of radiation therapy are quite similar to those of surgery—the inability to get an erection or urine leaks.

Monitoring in Practice

A common feature of prostate cancer is its indolent nature. Measuring both the tumor (grade, volume, PSA, stage) and patient (age and comorbidities) can identify men at lower risk of developing disease at times during intermediate periods of follow-up. Active monitoring also may be appropriate for men at reduced risk of cancer or for whom avoiding sexual, urinary, and/or bowel problems is more important. Surveillance involves the performance of prostate biopsies when necessary, DREs, as well as watchful monitoring of PSA levels. Some hormonal therapies decrease the levels of testosterone, which helps halt the spread of prostate cancer. Read More About Health Insurance

Follow-up treatment

We follow up periodically with your PSA after the surgical management of prostate cancer to ascertain that you haven’t developed recurrent cancer. Six monthly, for two years, follow, an ultrasensitive PSA monitoring; thereafter, if there are no signs and evidence of recurrence, the yearly checkup is all one needs.