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The Ins and Outs of Prostate Cancer

The most common cancer among American men prostate cancer is not the deadliest one out there — lung cancer is. But when it comes to testing for prostate cancer and treating it it is one of the most complex and controversial.

Because the prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system (located below the bladder) prostate cancer is unique to men although it is often compared to breast cancer in women.

“As far as incidence rates prostate and breast cancer are similar in men and women” says Dr. Alec Urquhart medical oncologist at Shaw Regional Cancer Center. “Women can't get prostate cancer but men can get breast cancer. Androgen plays an important role in both.”

Whereas a significant portion of breast cancer cases (about seven percent) occur in women younger than 40 years the risk for prostate cancer doesn't increase significantly until after age 50.

Similar to women getting mammograms to screen for breast cancer the screening process for prostate cancer in men begins with a PSA test (prostate-specific antigen) which simply involves testing a blood sample. Elevated levels of PSA may indicate prostate cancer. The catch is that certain harmless conditions or circumstances such as benign prostate enlargement (BPH) or inflammation (prostatitis) can also lead to high levels of PSA that don't indicate a presence of prostate cancer. This is why PSA screening is a matter of significant contention in the medical world.

SCREENING: YAY OR NAY?
“I could speak ad nauseam about the pros and cons of PSA screening” says medical oncologist and nationally renowned prostate cancer specialist Dr. Michael Glodé who also happens to be a recent prostate cancer survivor.  “The more you screen for it the more you find it. What's happened with PSA testing is that more men were discovered to have elevated PSAs. But some have that because their prostate enlarges. There are some men who have cancer with normal PSA values too but when you start biopsying as one of my colleagues puts it 'If you drill more holes you find more oil.'”

The thing is there are types of oil or rather prostate cancer that are indeed unveiled in biopsies following PSA screening but they are low-grade and potentially not much of a threat.

“In the last 10 years there was a flurry of cases when PSA screening became available” Dr. Glodé points out. “People said 'oh my God you can find cancer it needs to be treated.' Are we putting too many men through biopsies when many are low-grade cancers that may have never bothered them?”

“All the screening has only had a small effect on death rates” he says. “It has caused a lot of anxiety. It makes sense to go through the side effects [of treatment] if a patient has more than a 15-year life expectancy. But more than half of the men diagnosed at age 70 will be dead from another cause by 85.”

Dr. Connie Wolf urologist at Colorado Mountain Medical believes that screening is advisable for younger men but only after an extensive exchange of information.

“I do believe that it should be offered to certain men after a discussion of the benefits and risks surrounding prostate cancer screening and treatment” she says. “Entire clinic appointments are sometimes spent discussing this.”

The upside of PSA screening is that if the cancer discovered in a biopsy is more advanced it can be treated in a number of different ways and prolong a patient's survival.

“The good news is that even for men with metastasized forms there are five new drugs approved in the last few years that have been shown to treat it effectively” Dr. Glodé says. “Of all cancers prostate cancer is definitely one of the most treatable and slowest growing.”

TREATMENT OPTIONS
Prostate cancer is uniquely dependant on androgens (male hormones) for surviving and spreading. The new drugs block testosterone and target abnormal proteins in the blood but also come with side effects such as swollen breasts impotence and urinary incontinence.

For non-metastatic (not spread beyond the gland) prostate cancer surgically removing the prostate is a frequently employed treatment option.

Some men with higher grades of prostate cancer choose to have radiation which is done by external beams or radioactive “seeds” placed in the prostate tissue.

Chemotherapy is reserved only for patients with the most advanced forms of the disease. Unlike chemotherapy however hormonal treatments don't typically cause sickness or hair loss. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) can control the disease for years sometimes leading to remissions lasting 15 to 20 years.

“That's what's exciting about prostate cancer now there are new therapies coming out” Dr. Urquhart says adding that in spite of the cons of screening the Shaw Regional Cancer Center generally advocates it. “We are on the pro-screening side for mammograms starting at 40. As far as the PSA it's much less clear. There has been increasing debate on that. I still recommend it.”

Dr. Michael Glodé recommends any patient with a positive family history of prostate cancer consider PSA screening start at age 45 and that all other men discuss the pros and cons of screening with their physician or an expert starting at age 50.

Some men who undergo PSA tests discover high levels are biopsied and find the presence of cancer but simply decide to wait and watch because the tumor is low-grade and non-threatening. Still others live under the philosophy that ignorance is bliss and opt to never be screened.

“If you talk to men in a prostate cancer support group none of them feel like they shouldn't have been screened” Dr. Glodé says. “But there is a big physiological burden of surgery so you want to make sure it was worth doing.”

Ultimately it comes down to personal choice and talking to your doctor about the options.

“You can download thousands of pages of very confusing information about prostate cancer” Dr. Glodé says. “This is what newly diagnosed people usually do. After they've done that they like to talk to somebody who has experience treating it.”

THE EXPERT
In his 30-plus-year medical career Dr. Glodé has treated more than 3000 cases of prostate cancer and was Harvard-trained. The Associate Director for Outreach at the University of Colorado Cancer Center Dr. Glodé has led the charge on a multitude of medical and pharmaceutical research projects and investigations on cancer treatments. Although he is on the road to retirement he serves patients at the university and at Shaw Regional Cancer Center.

He is also a guy who has experienced prostate cancer first-hand.

This in itself speaks to the necessity of a personal decision when facing prostate cancer beginning with the controversial decision to get screened and if so when what measures to take if a biopsy turns out malignant and how to choose and/or deal with treatment.

“I made up my mind to be screened until age 70” Dr. Glodé says of his own choices. “A couple years ago my PSA crept up and I got biopsied. Last year it was up again and I had a second biopsy. That found a small tumor an intermediate grade.”

Dr. Glodé opted for surgery about a year ago. Like most prostate surgery patients he was in and out of the hospital in about 24 hours. The recovery wasn't particularly difficult — within a week he was out hiking — and he says he is doing well.

“That was my choice. That's how the cards fell” he says. At the time it's what felt right to him and he says it always needs to be a personal choice.

“I'm always helping men make decisions talking about their personal preferences” he says.

Not only is he one of the most qualified prostate specialists in the world but Dr. Glodé also has access to experimental treatments that are not yet FDA approved. Shaw Regional Cancer Center's patients have access to the best treatment in the world.

“Shaw is a state-of-the-art radiation facility. My feeling is they can deliver radiation therapy as well as anyone in the country” he says.