How To Spot Aggressive Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer can progress either rapidly or slowly. Prostate cancer which spreads faster than normal characterized by highly abnormal cells is referred to as aggressive prostate cancer.
What Is Aggressive Prostate Cancer
Aggressive prostate cancer is the condition where the cancer spreads too rapidly compared to the typical type of prostate cancer and mutated cells are very different from normal, healthy cells in appearance. Aggressive prostate cancer also does not go into remission despite a lowered level of androgens as a result of androgen-deprivation therapy, which is one of the first-line treatments against the disease.
Recently, a protein was identified to be a good predictor of the nature of the prostate cancer involved, that is, if it will mutate into the aggressive form or not. p27 is the protein that normally functions to suppress tumor growth. It has been found that patients with aggressive prostate cancer have very low levels of this protein. Aggressive prostate cancer has a worse prognosis than the typical type of prostate cancer, and patients with this disease also face a higher risk of recurrence.
How To Identify Aggressive Prostate Cancer
A yearly prostate examination is ideal for early detection of possible tumors in the prostate, especially since prostate cancer usually does not come with visible signs and symptoms. A routine physical inspection can be done through a digital rectal examination or a transrectal ultrasound, while a tumor biopsy is done to confirm the diagnosis of a malignant tumor.
There are many ways to determine how aggressive the cancer is. Tumor markers are often used to determine if the cancer is low-risk, intermediate risk, or high risk, with aggressive prostate cancer falling under the last category. These markers include prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, the PSA velocity, and the Gleason score. PSA is a substance which is normally produced by the prostate gland in little amounts. Higher-than-normal levels of PSA in the blood often signal an infection, an enlargement, or a disease in the prostate. The PSA velocity can show if the cancer is the aggressive or not. Studies have shown that when PSA levels rise sharply a few months before surgery, it is often an indication that the cancer is aggressive. The Gleason score, on the other hand, can also show how aggressive the cancer is by grading of the appearance of the mutated cells. The more abnormal the cells appear, the more aggressive they are.
As with most diseases, early detection may just make the difference between a good and bad prognosis. Although it cannot lower the risk for aggressive prostate cancer, annual digital prostate exams, transrectal ultrasound and other physical exam tests can identify potential cancerous tumors at an earlier time when treatment can be most effective.
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