Everything you need to know about prostate cancer

A slow growing disease

Prostate cancer is a slow growing disease (video 2). Most of the time, when diagnosed, the cancer has already been in place for many years and very often there is absolutely no need to rush as time is your better ally. It is quite rare when a prostate cancer is diagnosed that the unit of time is the week or the month but rather the year as prostate cancer is more to consider as a chronic disease. Prostate cancer stays asymptomatic until a late stage and sometimes will stay silent during the entire life of a patient (latent prostate cancer). As less than 5 prostate cancer patients out of 100 will eventually die from the disease some experts consider that the healthcare professionals are overreacting to a situation which a not a heavy health problem (picture 11).

Video 2 : Prostate cancer is a slow growing disease

picture OC

Picture 11 : Different definitions of prostate cancer according to Pr O. Cussenot (Paris, France)

Overdiagnosis and overtreatement

In Europe, in 2022, 400 000 men are expected to develop a prostate cancer while in the US in 2020 a bit less than half of this previsional statistic have developed the disease.

Epidemiology

Based on Globoscan 2018, prostate cancer is the second most frequent malignancy (after lung cancer) in men worldwide.

Diagnostic tools

For decades the diagnostic of prostate cancer has relied on a triad based on a clinical examination by digital rectal examination (DRE)...

Clinical scenarii

In the diagnostic workup, what really matters ? The most important parameter is the result of the biopsies. The 3 different clinical scenarii