Hyderabad: Prostate cancer is going to see a 220-per cent rise by 2020, according to the Indian National Cancer Registry, as the incidence in urban areas has skyrocketed. It is the second most common cancer in men and the sixth leading cause of cancer death among men worldwide.
Clinical experience shows that prostate cancer is more vicious and life threatening in Indian men that in Caucasian men.
Dr Sanjai Addla, consultant uro-oncologist at Apollo Cancer Institute explains: “The cause of prostate cancer is multi-factorial. The major influence is life style, food habits and environment. Processed food, fatty food and increased alcohol intake with sedentary habits and obesity is found to cause the same. With increasing adaptation to western life style in major cities, the incidence is high in urban centres.”
Prostate is found to increase in size with age, and hence the problem is seen largely in elderly and older men. It is seen post 60 years of age and often tends to get worse in some cases where medical management becomes a major challenge.
Urologist Dr Ramkrishna Prasad said that 95 per cent of prostate cancers are curable if they are identified at an early stage. “For this reason, symptom like passing blood in the urine must not be neglected. Clinical experience shows that one in four patients has blood in the urine and that is the underlying diagnosis. Those who find a lump in the testicles must also get it tested as this is also a sign of cancer.”
Localised prostate cancer is manageable and can be cured with the new drugs available, surgery, and radiotherapy. When the cancer spreads to other parts of the body, especially organs, then the treatment becomes very aggressive and it is often a challenge.
