Many men are not aware of the role of the prostate. It is a gland that secretes the fluid that nurtures sperm cells. The majority of male cancer patients suffer from prostate cancer. But unlike other forms of cancer, prostate cancer takes about 10 to 30 years to progress to an advanced stage. High cure rates are generally achieved with early stage prostate cancer. At this point, the tumor is very small and/or is completely confined (localized) within the prostate gland.
Early Stage Treatment
Depending on the severity of the condition, surgery or radiation treatment may be recommended for cancer localized in the prostate gland. However, early stage prostate cancer treatments are generally limited to "active surveillance" or the thorough and continuous observation of cancer symptoms. At this stage, patients are usually put on medication.
Definition of Cure Rate
The term "cure rate" refers to the percentage of all diagnosed patients who currently have very low prostate specific antigen (PSA) scores (PSA 0.2 ng/mL or lower). PSA is a protein found in the blood of all men, but the level of PSA is higher when the prostate gland is inflamed, enlarged or diseased. If a man has been diagnosed with cancer of the prostate, PSA scores are usually high when the cancer advances and low when cancer is effectively managed by treatment. For example, if the cure rate is 64 percent for 100 patients who are being treated, 64 patients are predicted to have lower than 0.2 PSA in 10 years. Since 10 years is the average prognosis for prostate cancer cases, 10 is often used as the standard time value in PSA calculations. Hence, low PSA scores at that point indicate high cure rates.
Treatment Effectiveness
The higher the cure rate for a certain treatment, the more effective a particular treatment is considered to be. Doctors take such rates into account when deciding on which treatment is best for an early stage prostate cancer patient.
"Cure rate" versus "survival rate"
Medical literature usually refers to "survival rate" rather than "cure rate" for prostate cancer. Survival rate means the percentage of patients who will live five, 10, 15 or more years beyond diagnosis and treatment. About 99 out of 100 men treated for localized prostate cancer will live more than five years and 65 to 90 will live for at least 10 years.
Individual Experience
Remember that cure rates and survival rates are averages. Regardless of what the statistics say, each cancer patient's situation is unique. The same type of cancer can grow at different rates in different people, and each person will respond slightly differently to the treatment his doctor chooses. No statistics can tell you specifically what will happen to you.
Tags: prostate cancer, prostate gland, cure rate, cure rates, prostate cancer