Prostate cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer death in men, yet it is highly curable if discovered while still confined to the prostate gland. Each year, Cleveland Clinic physicians provide prostate cancer treatment for more than 1,000 men. Our urologists were among the first to offer advanced local anesthesia techniques for prostate biopsy. This helps men avoid the pain that used to be associated with a prostate biopsy.
Institute specialists consider many factors when recommending the most appropriate form of prostate cancer treatment. For example, a variety of surgical techniques can be used to remove the prostate gland, a procedure called prostatectomy. Radical prostatectomy can be performed by open, laparoscopic and robotic techniques, each of which has its own unique advantages. An open prostatectomy removes the entire prostate through an incision made in the lower abdomen. A laparoscopic prostatectomy uses minimally invasive tools, including a tiny camera, to remove the prostate gland through tiny incisions. Robotic prostate surgery uses a robotic system and small incisions to remove the prostate. Other prostate cancer treatment options, are available such as cryotherapy or chemotherapy.
What is prostate cancer?
Prostate cancer, which develops from cells in the prostate gland, is the second most common cancer in American men. The walnut-sized prostate gland, located between the pubic bone and rectum, wraps around the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that 180,400 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the United States each year, and that 31,900 people in our country will die of prostate cancer this year. Although the number of cases of prostate cancer declined among white American men, the incidence of the disease in black men and the mortality rate among black men is more than twice that of white men, according to the ACS.
The disease grows very slowly in most cases. In fact, 89 percent of patients diagnosed with prostate cancer have a five-year survival rate, and 63 percent live at least 10 years after the disease is found and treated.
Eventually, the cancer may spread outside the prostate gland to other parts of the body. Since lymphatic vessels of the prostate lead to pelvic lymph nodes, cancer cells can spread out along these vessels, where they can reach lymph nodes and continue to grow.
