Download Prostate Cancer - Biology of Cancer - Lecture Notes | BIMM 134 and more Study notes Biology in PDF only on Docsity! 4/27/04 Prostate Cancer One of the most frequent causes of death in males 2nd only to lung cancer Can be thought of as the equivalent to breast cancer in males in that they can be: - hormone dependent - androgen induced (prostate cancer ppt slides – statistics on cancer death rates): Keep in mind the difference between: - death rates (people who die from cancer) - incidence (people who get or are diagnosed with cancer) other notes: - relatively large rate and increase in lung cancer and recent dropoff - blip in prostate cancer incidence may be due to increased diagnosis Relative survival rate = survival rate that takes into account death by other causes (for example age) - if you plot overall survival rate over time, % survival gradually decreases over time (from date of diagnosis), - some of these deaths will be due to things such as old age (increasing over time) - if you correct for this, you get the adjusted Relative Survival Rate % Survival | | diagnosis 5 yrs Methods of diagnosis Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) Test - Antibody test kit that can be used to detect and assay for amounts of a prostate specific antigen - The antigen is a protease involved in processing semen produced by the glandular epithelium of the prostate - Tends to be shed into the bloodstream, even in normal patients - People with prostate cancer tend to have elevated levels of PSA - At early stages of prostate cancer, elevated levels of PSA can be detected in blood Digital Rectal Examination (DRE) - A doctor physically examines the prostate through the rectum - Checks for texture, size, lumps - Reasonable for diagnosis of prostate cancer Both are recommended for males over 50 (prostate cancer ppt slides): Prostate is a gland that sits on top of urethra that is responsible for producing some components of semen. Hormone-sensitive, and androgen responsive. Images are histological sections of prostate showing epithelium and alveolar structures Benign hyperplasia - Enlarged gland - Enlarged alveolar structures - But still can see stromal layers between Prostatic adenocarcinoma - gross view - needle biopsy shows a tubular cutout of prostate tissue - close-ups of tissue at low power magnification show regions of dense carcinogenic tissue (left side of image) next to relatively normal tissue for comparison - at higher power note absence of luminal spaces and stromal regions between glands - high grade carcinomas lose any semblance of glandular structures – single cells growing out of control Prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) - prostatic equivalent to DCIS in breast - a precursor to prostatic carcinoma - presence of PIN usually a bad sign Treatment - surgical vissection (cut it out) - hormonal treatment – blocks androgen respnsiveness - castration
