Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is now the most common malignancy to afflict men. Digital rectal examination (DRE) is the simplest, safest, and most cost-effective means of detecting prostate cancer, provided that the tumor is posteriorly situated and is sufficiently large to be palpable. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a glycoprotein responsible for liquefying semen. Active surveillance is generally reserved for men with small-volume and low-to-moderate-grade prostate cancer, who have a low risk of eventual death from prostate cancer. Radical prostatectomy involves surgically removing the entire prostate, the seminal vesicles, and a variable amount of adjacent tissue. It is appropriate for men for whom it is anticipated the tumor can be removed completely by surgery. External-beam radiotherapy is widely used in the treatment of localized prostate cancer; it offers a particular advantage in patients who are unsuitable for surgery because of comorbidity or evidence of extra-prostatic extension of cancer.