Prostate carcinoma

Prostate carcinoma
in the Czech Republic

(click on the images to enlarge them)


Time trends in incidence and mortality.


Comparison of incidence in individual regions.


Age structure of patients.


Comparison of incidence in the Czech Republic and abroad.

(Source: www.svod.cz)

Incidence

Prostate carcinoma ranks among the most frequent cancer types in men. From the epidemiological point of view, prostate cancer belongs to the most serious health and social problems in general. The worldwide incidence of prostate carcinoma increases approximately by 3% every year – regardless of racial, geographical and/or nutritional differences. Although the incidence is still growing, the mortality fortunately remains to be relatively low. With regard to the growing incidence, however, the importance of preventive examinations must not be underestimated in men aged over 40 years, even if they do not perceive any difficulty in urinating, erectile dysfunction or other symptoms. A special emphasis should be placed on detection of prostate carcinoma at an early stage, either by physical examination or by screening blood tests, such as the PSA (prostate specific antigen) test. Prostate carcinoma incidence increases with age: approximately 75% of cases are diagnosed at the age of 55-75 years.

The specific causes of prostate cancer remain unknown. More factors probably contribute to the development of this disease: age, diet, hormonal changes, sexually-transmitted diseases, and genetic factors.

Diagnosis and treatment

Prostate carcinoma can be relatively successfully treated if it is detected early. Radical surgery can be performed at early stages, and patient’s survival is more or less the same as life expectancy of healthy individuals. Even advanced stages of prostate carcinoma do not shorten patients’ lives very significantly: many patients live with this diagnose 10 years and more without major difficulties.

Prostate carcinoma can be relatively easily diagnosed in later stages, when the disease is detected by rectal examination and confirmed by biopsy (removal of tissue for subsequent histological examination). A blood test to measure prostate specific antigen (PSA) in men over 50 years is the most effective test currently available for the early detection of prostate cancer: higher than normal level of PSA might be the first signal of prostate carcinoma. Many health care facilities have already made this test a routine procedure in physical examination of men over 50 years. It is in the interest of society that this simple examination is done on a routine basis, as it might help to detect prostate carcinoma at an early stage, when the disease can be effectively cured.

Apart from PSA level itself, several derived markers are used in prostate carcinoma diagnosis, such as age-specific PSA and PSA velocity.

The appropriate method of carcinoma prostate treatment depends not only on disease stage, but also on overall patient’s condition. Surgery is the basic method of choice, which can sometimes lead to a full recovery. However, surgery is only meaningful if carcinoma is detected at an early stage. Hormonal therapy is the most frequent method of choice in advanced stages of prostate carcinoma or in case of biochemical failure after surgery.