Know About Prostate Cancer Staging

By Olive Pate


Cancer has become a serious health issue today. Prostate cancer staging is a process that physicians use to describe the location of the cancer, the extent to which it has spread and the probability of it affecting other parts of the body beyond the prostate gland. They could also determine if it could be cured with local therapies.

The procedure is carried out by doctors by carrying out tests to determine the extent of the tumor. The patient undergoes various tests and thus takes a longer time. The doctors are provided with the responsibility of looking at the results and interpreting them. This helps them determine how wide the cancerous growth has spread and the affected areas. In this way doctors can ascertain a suitable form of treatment and determine the chances of survival.

The tumor spreads in stages. The first stage is mostly comprised of series of undetected tumor. It can not be felt or seen on any imaging tests. It is found on the gland only and is made up of cells that are deceivingly healthy and have a slow but steady growth. They can not be detected easily and thus hard to treat at this stage.

The second stage which is mostly described by a tumor that is too small to be felt or seen on any tests. It is explained as a slightly larger lump that can be felt around the gland by an examining eye. The cancerous growth has not yet spread past the gland, but the cells are usually abnormal and happens to grow a lot more faster.

The subsequent stage, the tumor may begin to propagate to other organs and the tissues surrounding the glad. It risks affecting the seminal vesicles too. By this time, the tumor has already spread extensively to the prostatic capsule while the lump is felt and seen vividly on the glands surface.

On the last stage which risks any chances of survival of the patient, involves the tumor spreading to all the other parts of the body regardless of the location. It attacks organs and causes a breakdown to these organs such as the liver, lungs and bladder.

During the recovery process there are two types of medical stages of the cancer recovery procedure. The clinical stage which is based on the previous test results. Some of the tests include X-rays, bone scans and also MRI scans. Even though, they may not always be necessary. They come recommended depending on the size of the cancerous growth and the stage of the tumor.

The pathologic stage which is based on information passed on during laboratory and surgery outcomes of the prostate tissues extracted during the surgery. The surgery in most cases involves the extraction of the entire glands.

The cancerous growth may appear again after treatment. This is the recurrent prostate cancer. It may appear in the gland or other body organs. In case this takes place the tumor may need to be staged once again to determine the form of treatment to be provided early and if it could be eliminated through these treatments.




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