Health & Care Information Learn all about prostate cancer stages, survival rates, life expectancy, statistics, mortality rate, epidemiology and prostate cancer awareness month in canada
What is prostate cancer?
The prostate is an organ located at the base of the bladder in male mammals.Size of prostate gland in mature adult human is about the size of a walnut. There are three main diseases of the prostate. Prostatitis is inflammation of the prostate. Often this inflammation may be caused by bacterial or fungal infection, but may be caused by other factors.Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is an enlargement of the prostate gland caused by excess growth of glandular tissue, tightening the urethra and obstructing urination.Prostate cancer is an aggressive growth of malignant cancerous cells in the prostate that can be fatal.The causes of prostate cancer are not completely understood.symptoms of prostate cancer can vary from none to painful urination, blood in the urine, bone pain, muscle weakness and others.
Prostate cancer survival rates and life expectancy in Canada
Prostate cancer statistics in Canada
In Canada, prostate cancer is the most common male cancer and the third leading cause of cancer death in males. Within a publicly funded healthcare system, government guidelines do not support prostate cancer screening with prostate specific antigen (PSA), despite national primary care and specialist groups taking a more favorable position.Methods of prostate cancer screening mainly consist of PSA, the free total PSA ratio and digital rectal examination (DRE).
According to Canadian cancer society, in previous year about 23,600 Canadian men were diagnosed with prostate cancer out of which 4000 Canadian men died.This figure represents 10% of all cancer deaths in Canadian men in 2014.According to current data about 65 Canadian men diagnose with prostate cancer every day and 11 Canadian men die every day due to prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer mortality rate in Canada
In recent years Prostate cancer mortality rate in Canada significantly decreases due to better health facilities, new treatment options of prostate cancer and measurements taken by Canadian government to reduce the mortality rate of prostate cancer in Canada.According to some surveys and research data current mortality rate is 6.6 per 100,000
Canadian men.
Prostate cancer epidemiology in Canada
In Canada, incidence of prostate cancer in men 50 to 59 years of age has increased by 50% in last ten years due to PSA testing(prostate specific antigen).Incidence of loco-regional disease has increased, whereas the incidence of metastatic disease has decreased among Canadian population.
If we compare the incidence of prostate cancer in Canada with other countries then there is significant increase in prostate cancer incidence in Canada due to PSA testing(prostate specific antigen).Countries having high risk of prostate cancer includes United states, Canada, Sweden and Australia and low risk countries include Indonesia, Korea and Germany.
Prostate cancer stages
There are two types of prostate cancer, localized and escaped-from-the-prostate.Localized prostate cancer is contained inside the prostate,while more serious prostate cancer has spread or escaped beyond the prostate.More specifically, doctors categorize prostate cancer into four stages.The clinical stages of prostate cancer are
T1, T2, T3, and T4.
Prostate cancer stage 1
Prostate cancer during stage 1 is limited to the prostate gland, has a low Gleason score and less than 5 percent of the tissue is cancerous.At this stage patient remains unidentified due to no clinical symptoms.During this stage prostate cancer grows very slowly and high survival rate.
Prostate cancer stage 2
At this stage prostate cancer is still limited to the prostate gland but has a Gleason score above 4.At this stage patient has high PSA (prostate specific antigen) level.It can also be detected via DRE (digital rectal examination) or by transrectal ultrasound.
Prostate Cancer Stage 3
At this stage prostate cancer has begun to spread outside the prostate to the seminal vesicles, but has not yet affected the lymph nodes or any other part of the body which is unique feature of prostate cancer stage 3 that differentiates it from stage 4.
Prostate Cancer Stage 4
At this stage prostate cancer has spread to tissues next to the prostate, lymph nodes and to other tissues and organs far away from the prostate.This is advance stage of prostate cancer.Prostate cancer stage 4 has relatively low survival rate as compared to other stages because it penetrates into adjacent tissues next to prostate gland.
Prostate cancer survival rates and life expectancy in Canada
In Canada, prostate cancer is the most leading cause of death in Canadian men due to cancer.In recent years, incidence of prostate cancer in Canadian men is increased due to PSA (prostate specific antigen) testing.Survival rates and life expectancy highly depends upon type and stage of prostate cancer.Early stages of prostate cancer have high survival rate which is almost 95%. However, in advance stages it is difficult to get permanent cure from prostate cancer but still it can be managed to increase patient life span from 5-10 years depending upon condition of patient.
Another factor that plays key role in prognosis of prostate cancer is patient age.Adults have relatively high survival rates as compared to elder patients.Patients having age 60 years or more, suffering from advance stage prostate cancer or malignant type of prostate cancer are often advised to live without treatment because they cannot tolerate treatment adverse effects.So, age is key point in the prognosis of prostate cancer.Adults have high survival rates even in advance stages of prostate cancer due to advancements in prostate cancer treatment options like gamma knife technology, hormone therapy and new anti-cancer agents.
Awareness month for Prostate cancer in Canada
In Canada, September is the month that has been marked as prostate cancer awareness month by prostate cancer society of Canada.Prostate Cancer Canada is the only autonomous foundation in Canada that is dedicated to eliminate the disease through research, education, support and awareness.
