Prostate cancer is common among American men. In 2004, nearly 300,000 American men were diagnosed with prostate cancer and among these, approximately 30,000 died. If anything, these statistics show that prostate cancer, for most patients, actually does have a good prognosis.
As with any other form of cancer, early detection plays an important role in the outcome of the treatment that has been administered, the prognosis of the disease, and the life span of the patient. This is why it is highly recommended that you get screened annually by your physician. Catching cancer in the earliest stages will make the prognosis much better.
Metastatic Cancer
Metastatic cancer is cancer that has spread from the initial area to other parts of the body through the bloodstream or the lymph system. This happens because a cancerous cell has broken away from the mass where it was initially located and has migrated to another part of the body where it has continued to grow.
Metastatic cancer is actually later stage cancer. Cancer that is not detected until, the later stages can be difficult to treat and the curability rate lowers, as does the survival rate.
Survival Rate
Men who experience metastatic prostate cancer have less than a 10% chance of surviving for another five years after the diagnosis has been made. However, cancer is different in every patient, and each patient is also different from every other patient. So every person who has metastatic prostate cancer will not necessarily experience the same prognosis. Studies have shown that the location of the tumors, among other things, can affect the prognosis and that some men who have metastatic prostate cancer have a 20% to 30% chance of survival after the first five years of diagnosis.
Treatment
Treatment options are available for late stage of this cancer; however, it is harder to treat than the earlier stages where the cancer is more localized. Even if this cancer can be treated through radiation therapy or chemotherapy, the chances for recurrence are high. Recurrence is usually when you experience metastases. Patients who experience metastases are likely to receive a bad prognosis. When cancer metastasizes, sometimes there are just too many cancerous cells and they end up disrupting the body's metabolism, eventually resulting in death. At other times, the cancer can metastasize into vital areas of the body, such as the brain, and then result in death.
The surgical treatment option is usually thrown out the window in cases where the cancer has metastasized, but not in all cases. If the cancerous cells are large in number, push on vital organs, or intertwine themselves around delicate structures, surgery is not an option.
Late stage cancer can be treated; however, the prognosis is not good. Metastatic prostate cancer is late stage cancer and the prognosis of survival after the first five years after diagnosis is very low compared to the other stages.
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