What is prostate cancer ?
Prostate cancers are malignant tumors that develop from the normal cells of the prostate gland. These cancers often evolve slowly over several years, and their treatments are advancing rapidly. Prostate cancers require particular involvement from patients throughout their care journey.
It is indeed the patient who must decide on an individual level whether to engage in early detection of prostate cancer. Very often, it is also the patient who must deliberate with their doctor about the treatment they will choose together.
Finally, the patient, along with their doctor, can also decide to participate in a clinical trial. These choices, made at different stages of the therapeutic pathway, require a good understanding of the consequences of each decision. The following text aims primarily at providing this good understanding.
Expert perspective
The prostate is an accessory gland of the male reproductive system. Shaped and sized like a chestnut in young men, its volume increases with age starting from 40 years old. Located below the bladder, near the seminal vesicles, and in front of the rectum, it surrounds the urethra, the canal that allows for the evacuation of urine and semen.
The prostate is encased in a membrane called the Gleason capsule , which confines it.
Beneath the prostate and around the urethra are important muscle fibers. These muscles control the passage of urine by contracting or relaxing, thus managing the ability to retain urine (urinary continence). The prostate plays a role in semen production by producing a specific fluid, the prostatic fluid.
An increasing cancer but with a good prognosis
The majority of prostate cancers (90%) develop from the cells that make up the lining tissue of the prostate.
These are the most common cancers in men, far exceeding lung and colorectal cancers. In France, they represent 28% of male cancers. There are approximately 50,000 new cases per year, and the average age at diagnosis is 68 years (source: INCA).
Their number is constantly increasing, making these cancers a major public health issue. It is estimated that one in nine men over the age of 65 will develop prostate cancer (source: arcagy.org).
With current treatments, it has become a cancer with a good prognosis.
Interview with Professor Stéphane Oudard
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Article updated on Nov 21, 2024
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