Presentation and symptomatology of prostate cancer

Abstract

Prostate cancer can present at any stage of the disease and very frequently does not cause any symptoms at all. Most cancers arise in the periphery of the prostate gland and cause symptoms only when they have grown to compress the urethra or invade the sphincter [1]. In recent years, more and more of prostate cancer patients from the western hemisphere are diagnosed at an earlier stage due to rising prevalence of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing [2]. A study by Cooperberg et al. analyzed trends in clinical presentation in 2,078 men diagnosed between 1989 and 2001. The proportion of patients with low-risk tumor characteristics rose from 29.8 % in 1989-1992 to 45.3 % in 1999-2001 [3]. Studies based on the Department of Defense Center for Prostate Disease (CPDR) found downward migration at higher stage [3]. The percentage of patients presenting with locally advanced (T3 to T4) disease fell from 19.2 % in 1988 to 4.4 % in 1998; rates of metastatic disease at diagnosis likewise declined from 14.1 % in 1988 to 3.3 % in 1998.