If you’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer, you’re not alone: One in eight American men will have prostate cancer during their lifetime.
Although prostate cancer can become serious, it’s often highly treatable. In some cases, you may only need long-term monitoring and no active treatment at all.
What is prostate cancer?
Located under your bladder, the prostate produces fluid that contributes to semen. This production is from groups of cells called glands. Almost all prostate cancers start in these glands and are called adenocarcinoma.
What are the symptoms of prostate cancer? Is there screening for prostate cancer?
If you have prostate cancer, you may have difficulty urinating or see blood in your urine. But prostate cancer is almost always found through screening (a test done before you have any symptoms).
The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test can screen for prostate cancer. The PSA test checks how much PSA is in your blood. Having high PSA doesn’t mean you have cancer, but it does tell your doctor you need more testing.
Meet our prostate cancer providers
How is prostate cancer diagnosed?
After a test shows high PSA, you may have an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). If you have abnormal MRI results, including a visible tumor, your doctor can perform a biopsy.
A prostate biopsy is used to diagnose prostate cancer. During a biopsy, the doctor uses a small needle to take a tiny sample of prostate tissue in multiple places.
This can be done through the rectum wall or through the perineum, the area between the anus and the scrotum. Our experienced doctors work with patients every day to ensure their comfort during a prostate biopsy. Local numbing is used. And the specialized needle is spring-loaded, entering and exiting in a fraction of a second. Talk with your doctor about any concerns you may have.
What happens if I’m diagnosed with prostate cancer?
If your biopsy is positive for cancer, you may need more imaging tests, blood tests or another biopsy. Your doctors want to understand how cancer is growing inside your prostate and if it has spread.
Once your tests are complete, your doctor will discuss the treatment options available for you. The goal of any prostate cancer treatment is to protect your life while also preserving sexual and urinary function.
A wide range of treatment options are available for prostate cancer, including:
- Active surveillance. If you have a very small amount of cancer that is slow growing, you and your doctor may decide to just watch and wait.
Because some prostate cancers grow very slowly, it can make sense to hold off on treatment and avoid potential urinary and reproductive side effects.
During active surveillance, you will have regular blood tests and imaging tests to ensure the cancer hasn’t spread or changed. We can also provide genetic testing to understand more about your cancer so if you do decide to start treatment, we already have as much information as possible. - Focal therapy. Depending on how big your cancer is and where it’s located, you may be able to avoid removal of your entire prostate. Focal therapies treat the area of the prostate where the cancer is located.
Focal therapy for prostate cancer can have fewer side effects than surgery or radiation. And it’s a good option for cancers that are at a low risk of growing or spreading. Your doctor will explain if focal therapy is right for you.
Focal therapy includes:- Cryotherapy, which uses cold temperatures to freeze and kill cancerous cells.
- High-intensity focused ultrasound, or HIFU, which uses heat created by ultrasound waves to kill prostate tissue.
- Radiation. Radiation therapy for prostate cancer attacks cancer cells with beams of radiation. Your doctor will discuss the exact kind of radiation that you need and how long the treatment will take. We use imaging tools to map your prostate and computers to know exactly where to point radiation so that it kills cancer and not healthy cells.
Radiation treatment for prostate cancer can have side effects. Some men have urinary or sexual dysfunction after their radiation. This may occur several weeks or months after starting therapy. Your doctor will talk about the risk of side effects and what resources are available if you develop erectile dysfunction or urinary incontinence. Our program works aggressively to treat new problems that occur during or after radiation. - Surgery. Some types of prostate cancer are best treated by the removal of the entire prostate. This is called a radical prostatectomy. Depending on how much your cancer has spread, the nearby lymph nodes may also need to be removed.
You will receive general anesthesia. Prostate removal at RUSH MD Anderson Cancer Center is done using a surgical robot. For surgeons addressing prostate cancer, the surgical robot allows your surgeon to move more easily and be more precise. The robot also allows your surgeon to remove your prostate without making big incisions. This means less recovery time, less bleeding and less postsurgical pain.
While still under general anesthesia, you will also get a catheter. This long, thin tube inserted into the penis will help drain your bladder. The catheter stays in place for five to 10 days after surgery.
The surgery typically lasts about two and a half hours. Most people stay overnight in the hospital after a robotic radical prostatectomy.
What are the side effects of prostate cancer treatment?
Many men are concerned about the side effects of prostate cancer treatments. This can include erectile dysfunction which is the inability to get an erection, or urinary incontinence, the inability to control when you use the bathroom. Because of where the prostate is located and the function it serves in the body, these can be common side effects of radiation and surgery.
At RUSH MD Anderson, we take these concerns seriously. Your doctor will help you choose the right treatment for your cancer, and we have support available to help treat any side effects. This may include pelvic floor therapy or medications.
Choosing RUSH MD Anderson for Prostate Cancer Care
- Expertise in minimally invasive surgery: Your prostate cancer will be treated by our urologists who are among the country’s leading laparoscopic and robotic surgeons. They offer many treatment options from their own area of expertise, including image-guided biopsies for prostate cancer. Rush was one of the first hospitals in Chicago to use the da Vinci Surgical System and has treated more than 1,000 patients with prostate cancer. This advanced surgical technology offers a minimally invasive alternative for complex prostate surgery.
- Nationally ranked excellence: U.S. News & World Report ranks Rush University Medical Center among the best in the nation for cancer care and urology.
- Leading-edge treatments and personalized medicine: RUSH MD Anderson urologists are known for pioneering treatment options and research for patients with prostate and other urologic cancers. They also work closely with Tempus, a biotechnology company that analyzes your specific genetic and clinical data to provide information about how your cancer may respond to targeted treatments. This allows your care team to tailor your treatment to find the most effective option for treating your specific cancer. For higher-risk patients, we offer access to care you would not find elsewhere through our clinical trials.
- Minimized side effects of treatments: We focus on effective treatments that also minimize the risk of side effects like erectile dysfunction and incontinence. Our expert urologists will work with you to regain potency and bladder control throughout and after your treatment.
- Follow-up care where — and when — you need it: Prostate cancer requires follow-up care. We offer care at several convenient locations in Chicago, Oak Park, Oak Brook and Aurora/Fox Valley.
Frequently Asked Questions
One of the biggest risk factors for getting prostate cancer is age. About 60% of prostate cancers are in people age 65 or older.
Black men are more likely to get prostate cancer. And non-Hispanic white men are more likely to get prostate cancer than Asian American, Hispanic or Latino men.
Most men who have prostate cancer don’t have a family history. But if your father or brother had prostate cancer, your risk is more than doubled.
There are also inherited genetic changes that can increase your risk for prostate cancer. If you have the BRCA-1 or BRCA-2 gene or Lynch syndrome, you have an increased risk.
Prostate cancer has a complex staging system to explain exactly how far your cancer has spread and what kind of tumor it is. Where you are in the staging system is based on PSA levels, a biopsy, imaging tests and more.
The different stages are often grouped into risk levels:
- Very low risk. Your cancer is small, can’t be felt and is only found in a small area of the prostate. Your PSA is low. Most of these cancers grow slowly and almost never cause symptoms or other health issues.
- Low risk. Your cancer hasn’t grown outside the prostate, and you also have a low PSA. These are unlikely to cause symptoms or other health problems.
- Intermediate risk. This cancer can be felt with a digital rectal exam. You may have a tumor on both sides of the prostate or in more than half of one side of the prostate. You may have a high PSA. There might be other blood tests that show some concern.
- High risk. The cancer may have grown outside the prostate, you may have a very high PSA or the biopsy may show lots of changes in your cells.
- Very high risk. If you have more than one high-risk feature, you are considered very high risk. You may also have a tumor that has spread to a structure close to the prostate. This includes the seminal vesicles which are organs that also help produce semen. Your biopsy might reveal cells that show extreme changes.
Understanding your risk level can help you make decisions about the best treatment that’s right for you.
RUSH MD Anderson has several advanced approaches for people diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Our active surveillance program allows you to get the most information you can about your cancer while taking a wait-and-see approach, if you and your doctor decide that’s right for you. This can include genomic, molecular and proteomic tests that can measure the activity of genes in prostate cancer cells.
We also offer minimally invasive care that can preserve urinary and sexual function for men with prostate cancer. Our surgeons have experience removing the prostate using advanced surgical techniques, including the latest surgical robot. And our specialists work with men throughout the Chicago area to treat any incontinence or erectile dysfunction that occurs because of prostate cancer treatment.
Prostate biopsy may sound intimidating. But our experts work with people every day to know what to expect and prevent any discomfort. Local anesthetic is used to ensure your tissue is numb. And we use a specialized, spring-loaded needle that enters and exits in a fraction of a second. The needle will be used to remove tissue in several places around your prostate, depending on where the areas of concern are.
Yes. Focal therapy might be right for you, depending on your exact diagnosis. Instead of removing the entire prostate, focal therapy targets the cells where cancer has grown. Heat (HIFU) and cold are used to kill cancer cells.
Many men experience urinary and sexual side effects from prostate cancer treatments. We tackle these side effects quickly and aggressively, connecting you with services that may include medication or pelvic floor therapy.
At RUSH MD Anderson, we also know how important it is to have a team you trust while being treated for cancer. If you need radiation or surgery, we’ll be with you every step of the way to ensure you feel confident about your treatment choice.
We recommend that men who are at average risk for prostate cancer talk to their doctor about screening at age 45. This discussion can be with their primary care doctor or a urologist.
Men at increased risk (including African American men and those with a father, brother or son who had prostate cancer younger than 65) should be screened starting at 40.
Your primary care provider can help you understand your risk and when screening is right for you.
Yes. Through our partnership with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, we’re able to connect eligible patients with clinical trials for many kinds of cancers, including prostate cancer. We’ll work with you to understand which clinical trial might be right for you.
Depending on your treatment plan, you may only need a day or two to recover from an outpatient procedure. If you have a radical prostatectomy, you will need longer. We’ll talk with you before treatment starts to understand what recovery will be like for you.
Many men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer go on to live long, healthy lives.
