High-Risk Prostate Cancer

According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the most common form of non-skin cancer found in men in the United States. While one in six men will be diagnosed with the disease, low-risk patients may never have any problems. Those patients with high-risk prostate cancer are the ones that stand to benefit the most from seeking aggressive prostate cancer treatment options.

Definition

• High-risk prostate cancer is cancer that is in stage A or B combined with a Gleason grade of seven and a PSA (prostate specific antigen) measurement of greater than 10. Also, any stage C or D cancers are considered high risk.

Significance

• The high risk classification indicates that a patient's cancer has a greater likelihood of spreading out of the prostate gland and becoming fatal.

Treatment

• According to the National Institutes of Health, the most common treatments for localized high-risk prostate cancer are a radical prostatectomy (surgical removal of the prostate gland) and radiation therapy.

Alternatives

• Some patients undergo hormone therapy before receiving radiation or surgery to slow the cancer's growth. Others choose to do nothing to treat their prostate tumors, opting instead to wait and see if they progress or to treat the symptoms while allowing the disease to progress.

Considerations

• Choosing the best treatment for high-risk cancers is difficult, and the National Institutes of Health indicates that factors such as age, overall health and life expectancy must be considered by a patient and his doctors before making the choice.