When Should Prostate Cancer Be Treated?

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer diagnosed in males around the world. While 1 in 8 males will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their lives, only 1 in 41 will die from it, making the prognosis very good thanks to routine screening and early diagnosis.

Your prostate is a gland that sits between your penis and bladder. It produces fluid that transports and nourishes semen, produces prostate-specific antigen (PSA) — which helps semen retain its liquid state — and aids in urine control.

At his practice located in Central Midtown Manhattan in New York City, trained urology specialist David B. Samadi, MD and the rest of our team offer accurate prostate cancer screening and cutting-edge treatment. In this blog, we discuss everything you need to know about prostate cancer, including when it needs treatment.

Prostate cancer basics

Experts still aren’t sure what exactly causes prostate cancer, but there are some things that can increase your risk for this particular kind of cancer, including:

• Age: Those over the age of 50 are at greater risk

• Medical history: Your risk increases if a close family member had prostate cancer
• Race and ethnicity: Being Black or of African descent heightens your risk
• Diet: Some research suggests that diets high in fat are at risk
• Genetics: Carrying the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes increases your risk

Other possible factors that come into play are obesity, smoking, alcohol consumption, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

While the early stages of prostate cancer don’t often present with symptoms, some men report difficulty urinating, frequent urges to urinate, pain while urinating or ejaculating, and blood in their urine or semen. More advanced prostate cancer cases may also present with these symptoms while also including bone pain and unexplained weight loss.

Prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment 

One of the best ways to catch prostate cancer early is through routine screenings. Starting at about age 55, you’ll want to receive these cancer screenings on a regular basis. The two screening choices are checking PSA levels or using a digital rectal exam (DRE). 

If Dr. Samadi confirms that you have prostate cancer, as long as it’s in the early stages and is a nonaggressive form of cancer, he may recommend a wait-and-see approach. This is because early on, the risks of treatment are greater than the risk of the cancer itself.

However, if your cancer does, in fact, need to be addressed, Dr. Samadi has developed his own advanced robotic technology to remove cancerous tissue laparoscopically. This allows cancerous tissues to be removed precisely without worries of intense pain, long recovery times, extensive tissue damage, or arduous postoperative treatments.  

Other nonsurgical options for prostate cancer treatment include radiation, chemotherapy, and hormonal therapy. 

To schedule a prostate cancer screening or to learn more about prostate cancer treatments, contact our office for more information. You can do this by calling us at 212-365-5000 or by booking an appointment online today.