Thursday 31 May 2012

PROSTATE CANCER


This section is intended to inform you to better understand what this disease. As each case is unique, only dialogue with your doctor will explain your situation.

Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer with around 40,000 new cases annually. This number is steadily increasing each year due to the lengthening of life.
The prostate is a gland of the size of a walnut, located at the base of the bladder and surrounds the channel (ureter) through which flows the urine. The main function of the prostate is to secrete a component of the ejaculate and contract to allow ejaculation. Anatomically, the prostate lies just in front of the rectum, digital rectal examination allows the physician to the finger and to assess the volume and consistency.

The advisability of routine screening has been the subject of many evaluations. All health bureaus who have spoken on the subject, concluded that routine screening in the general population did not decrease the mortality of prostate cancer.
Although for now the routine screening of prostate cancer is not recommended by health authorities, it is defended by the French Association of Urology offering, for people with familial risk, a rectal and a PSA test every year, among men 50 to 75 years. This assay can be started at 45 years in patients at risk (family history of man and Afro-Caribbean). Indeed, it can be diagnosed at a localized stage tumors and thus curable.