What should prostate cancer patients pay attention to? What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?

Prostate cancer is a urological disease. It refers to epithelial malignant tumors occurring in the prostate, mainly including adenocarcinoma, urothelial carcinoma, ductal adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and adenosquamous carcinoma. The percentage of adenocarcinoma is as high as 95%. In other words, what is commonly referred to as prostate cancer actually refers to prostate adenocarcinoma. In my country, this type of cancer generally occurs in middle-aged and elderly people, and the incidence rate increases with age.

The cause of prostate cancer is closely related to heredity. If there is no prostate cancer patient in the family, the relative risk is 1 and the absolute risk is 8. Then the relative risk of a family member with hereditary prostate cancer is 5 and the absolute risk is 35 to 45. In addition to hereditary factors, the cause of prostate cancer is also related to sexual activity and eating habits. The more frequent the sexual activity, the greater the possibility of prostate cancer. A high-fat diet will also increase the risk of prostate cancer. Race, region, religious beliefs, etc. may also be related to the incidence of prostate cancer.

There are generally no obvious symptoms in the early stages of prostate cancer. As the tumor develops, its symptoms can be summarized into two categories: compression symptoms and metastasis symptoms. Compression symptoms refer to the compression of the urethra by the gradually enlarged prostate gland, which causes urinary difficulties, such as labored urination, interrupted urine flow, etc., in addition to frequent urination, urgency, increased nocturia, and urinary incontinence. If the tumor compresses the rectum, it will cause difficulty in defecation and intestinal obstruction. If it compresses the vas deferens, it will cause lack of ejaculation. If it compresses the nerves, it will cause genital pain, which may radiate to the sciatic nerve.

The metastatic symptoms of prostate cancer mainly refer to the fact that this cancer can invade the bladder, seminal vesicle, and blood vessels and nerve bundles, which can cause hematuria, impotence, and hematospermia. Metastasis to the pelvic lymph nodes can cause edema in both lower limbs. This cancer often metastasizes to the bones, causing bone pain or pathological fractures and paraplegia. Prostate cancer may also invade the bone marrow, causing anemia and a decrease in the whole blood count.