If you're confused about prostate cancer, you're not alone.

Get the facts behind some common misconceptions.
The truth could save your life.

 

Learn the Facts About Prostate Cancer

 

Most people don't think prostate cancer is going to happen to them, unless their father or brother had it.

However, given that about 164,000 men in the United States will be diagnosed with the disease in 2018, it's likely that you or someone you know will be affected.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancer in American men, right behind lung cancer.

 

But while it's a serious disease, and it does take lives, most men don't die from it.
In fact, the ACS says that more than 2.9 million Americans who've been diagnosed with prostate cancer are still alive today.

 

The diagnosis of prostate cancer almost always hits people out of the blue.
It's not what you plan on, and of course it's very disruptive.

For many men, prostate cancer creates a general cognitive dissonance: Why me? What did I do wrong? What am I going to do about it now that my life is being threatened?

 

When talking about prostate cancer, high emotions often kick in.
What I see all the time, is people overestimating the deadliness of prostate cancer.
There are some pretty bad cancers out there, and i'm not saying prostate cancer can't be bad.

But people don't tend to discriminate about what their prognosis might be compared to someone else with the big C.
There is sort of a sense of impending doom that certain patients may have which may or may not be true.

 

Hopefully we can help people understand that prostate cancer is not a death sentence for the majority of us.

In the end, most men die with prostate cancer, not of prostate cancer.

One way to clarify things bust the myths and beat prostate cancer he says, is to learn more about what prostate cancer is, how it's treated, and who's at risk for it.

 

 

Myth: Prostate Cancer Is for Older Men!

 

Fact: While it's true that the majority of men diagnosed with prostate cancer are older, it can strike younger men, too.
About 40 percent of all cases occur in men younger than 65, according to the ACS.
It's not uncommon at all for men in their fifties and some in their forties to have prostate cancer.
The exact age you should start getting regularly screened for prostate cancer is still an area of confusion and debate.

The exception to this is if the disease runs in your family, in which case it's a good idea to start PSA screening earlier, at age 40 or 45.

 

 

Myth: My Dad Had Prostate Cancer, So I Will, Too!

 

Fact: If a man has one relative with prostate cancer, say a father or brother, his chances of getting it are two times higher than someone who doesn't have this history.
Two family members with prostate cancer hike the risk five fold.
But not everyone with a family history of prostate cancer will get it themselves.

 

 

Myth: Prostate Cancer Isn't Deadly!

 

Fact: While the five year survival rate with prostate cancer is very high 90 percent, according to the ACS it's still the second leading cause of cancer death in men.
The only cancer that kills more men is lung cancer.

Most prostate cancers indolent,  which means that they grow slowly and can often be actively monitored over the course of many years.
But sometimes prostate cancer is aggressive, and grows quickly.
While most men don't have a prostate cancer that's fast and deadly, acknowledges Sartor, it does exist.
And you won't know which type you have until it's thoroughly checked out.
In other words, assuming prostate cancer isn't serious and not having further testing because of this misconception could be a downright deadly way of approaching the illness.
The dangers and risks of prostate cancer aren't distributed evenly among American men, either.

 

 

Myth: If the Cancer Comes Back, It Can't Be Treated Again!

 

Fact: Recurrence of prostate cancer can be wrenching.
But just because a cancer comes back doesn't mean you can't reach remission again.
What it does mean is that you'll likely have to try another approach to treatment.

Your first cancer cure is always the best.

But you do have a possibility for cure if it comes back particularly if you've had an initial radical prostatectomy, in which case if you catch the recurrence early, you can radiate and get a pretty good cure rate.  

 

 

Myth: PSA Tests Are Bad for You!

 

Fact: Some prostate cancer experts recommend against regular PSA testing, but not necessarily because of the test itself which is just a simple blood test.

PSA screening certainly isn’t perfect, but it doesn't pose any actual danger to your health.

The real hazard is anxiety and sometimes faulty decision making when it comes to interpreting and acting on PSA results.

According to the ACS, PSA levels usually go above 4 when prostate cancer develops.

However, a PSA level between 4 and 10 results in a prostate cancer diagnosis only about 25 percent of the time.

Causes of a high PSA can range from things like bicycling to ejaculation.

As a result, some men are given invasive biopsies that aren’t needed.

Or, if they do have cancer, they may be treated aggressively for slow growing tumors that might never have caused any issues.

In the years since they've been widely used, prostate cancer diagnoses have gone up but the death rate is going down.

 

 

 

Myth: If You Have a Low PSA, You Don't Have Prostate Cancer!

 

Fact: PSA levels can be useful in diagnosing prostate cancer, but they're really only one piece of the larger puzzle.
The PSA test is far from perfect.

He draws a parallel between low PSA readings and negative mammograms in women.

If you have a negative mammogram, it's not 100 in terms of excluding cancer.
The probability is less, but likewise just because your PSA is relatively low, you can't interpret that to mean that there is no cancer present.

To get the most complete picture of your prostate health, you need to get other diagnostic tests as well.
This may mean getting a biopsy.

But that standard is changing, citing a major study published in The New England Journal of Medicine in March 2018 and The Lancet in February 2017 that point to the value of a special type of MRI imaging called multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging.

While the biopsy is still the gold standard when it comes to the diagnosis of cancer, this MRI can add localization and help streamline the efficiency of the biopsy.

It can tell you where to put the needle and also, in some patients, tell you that a biopsy is not required because the probability of cancer is very low.

 

 

Myth: Prostate Cancer Treatment Always Causes Impotence!

 

Fact: According to research published in the December 2014 issue of the International Journal of Urology, there's been progress in developing models to predict erectile dysfunction after localized treatment for prostate cancer.
Avoiding impotence depends on many factors, including the skill of the surgeon who is operating on you.
Age can also be a complicating factor, adds Wei: As men get into their sixties and seventies, a lot of them already have some compromise of sexual function.
Prostate cancer treatment certainly won't correct this problem, but it also isn't likely to make it significantly worse for most men.

 

 

Myth: Prostate Cancer Treatment Always Causes Incontinence!

Fact: Next to sexual function, men worry most about urinary incontinence as a result of prostate cancer treatment.

Sartor says sexual side effects are more common than the urinary side effects the year after surgery.
The majority of people do not have significant urinary problems.
If you do have bladder problems, you're more likely to face minor leakage than major accidents and in most men, the situation is temporary or treatable.