Symptoms such as frequent, painful or bloody urination, or an inconsistent stream during urination are suggestive of [prostate cancer](https://www.withpower.com/clinical-trials/prostate-cancer). Sudden onset of erectile dysfunction is also suggestive of prostate cancer. These symptoms usually occur long before prostate carcinoma is diagnosed, so it is likely that the prostate will undergo cancer.
Patients who are at substantial risk for developing prostate cancer will also carry a significant burden of psychological and physical burden and a need for social support. Men with prostate cancer face a multitude of challenges that range from psychological and social difficulties to treatment side effects.
Though the cure rate depends on stage, most prostate cancers can be cured. However, a small number of men cannot be cured (around 10%) due to other factors being a contraindication.
One of the more common treatments for [prostate cancer](https://www.withpower.com/clinical-trials/prostate-cancer) is androgen deprivation therapy. This therapy consists of medications that reduce the production of androgens in the body. In many patients with more-advanced cancer, the medication is or has become necessary even in the absence of symptoms. In addition to medication, one patient in eight was willing to undergo hormone therapy as treatment for their prostate cancer. On its own, the medication may decrease survival rates; however, patients in which these treatments are combined may experience more sustained responses to the treatment. Patients generally respond with varying degrees of success while undergoing a combination of treatments for prostate cancer. There have also been reports of possible positive effects of testosterone, as opposed to a castrate-like state.
prostate cancer causes several symptoms and health care in men, and many of their symptoms can be caused by the physical changes of the disease rather than any specific illness. In a number of cases, prostate cancer may not be immediately noticeable, but, if detected, its treatment can greatly improve the quality of life in prostate cancer sufferers. Men are usually diagnosed after they have developed a large number of symptoms and their health care providers will try various means to get a full picture of their condition.
The National Surgical Quality Improvement Project estimates the incidence of [prostate cancer](https://www.withpower.com/clinical-trials/prostate-cancer) per 10,000 of 20 in 2019, with the disease accounting for more than 25% of all surgeries in the United States and nearly 10% of all cancer deaths in the United States. Rates of prostate cancer are higher in low socioeconomic groups, although the cause of this is unclear. Most cases (~90%) of prostate cancer occur localized in the prostate gland. The 5-year survival rate is 85% following radical prostatectomy and 89% under androgen deprivation treatment. In a recent report, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network also indicates that 15.6% of new cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed following prostate biopsy, with an increasing proportion coming from low-risk tumors.
The latest new evidence of the effectiveness of external beam radiation therapy in patients with T1/T2N0M0 [prostate cancer](https://www.withpower.com/clinical-trials/prostate-cancer) is supported by large, multi-institutional trials, particularly involving radical prostatectomy at the same institution where treatment (e.g. radical prostatectomy) is always practiced. As a result, external beam radiation therapy is recommended for all patients with localized prostate cancer, including those treated in this manner, in the NCCN guidelines for cancer of the prostate. Because the treatment of node-negative disease with external beam radiation therapy is not proven, treatment for node-negative disease with pelvic node dissection may be appropriate with patients for whom pelvic external beam radiation is indicated based on clinical stage or risk.
It is recommended that staging and treatment for [prostate cancer](https://www.withpower.com/clinical-trials/prostate-cancer) be initiated following biopsy with a Gleason score of 7-8. In an intermediate-risk population, where a subset of patients have low PSA and prostate needle biopsy results that are close to 8s and/or 7, prostate-specific antigen screening by digital rectal examination, prostate biopsy, and possibly staging by prostate aspiration are sufficient for timely treatment.
PCa runs in families; these families may be identified with improved accuracy by using a multimodal family screening approach that includes a PSA and risk-reducing biopsy in at-risk PCa families.
Apalutamide therapy in prostate cancer has been mainly combined with standard treatments other than apalutamide. These include a broad range of chemotherapy drugs (5-FU and/or docetaxel), radiation therapies (ionizing radiation or proton beam therapies, brachytherapy or external beam irradiation), hormonal (androgen deprivation or estrogen deprivation) and immunotherapy (i.e. cytotoxic T lymphocyte-mediated therapy and/or antibodies specifically targeting the androgen receptor) agents and/or target other biological receptors including EGFR, HER2, HER3 and HER4 or GFR.
A new study has estimated a median age of 67 for [prostate cancer](https://www.withpower.com/clinical-trials/prostate-cancer) in Australia. Considering that the median age for all cancer is 70 years old, it is reasonable to speculate that prostate cancer is becoming common at a later age.
Findings from a recent study of two trials evaluating the same intervention (and placebo in one of these) are reassuring as to the efficacy and safety of a "second-line" treatment. The presence of a statistically significant difference in metastasis-free survival in either trial cannot be completely excluded. The question of whether such a trial could be conclusive is, however, in dispute.