Aggressive Prostate Cancer – How to Diagnose for a good Prognosis

Cancer is a silent killer, a deadly disease and a dreadful one. So, the earlier it is spotted or identified the better is the prognosis. Prostate cancer takes the top spot affecting males.

The prostate cancer may grow rapidly or it can be a slow process as well. If the spread of prostate cancer is fast it is characterized by abnormal multiplication of the malignant and mutated cells and it is then referred to as aggressive prostate cancer. Aggressive prostate cancer has always a greater risk of recurrence even after surgical treatments.

Prostate cancer does not show any early signs of symptoms. So a routine inspection through digital rectal examination (DRE) or a trans-rectal ultrasound becomes very important to diagnose the disease early. Aggressive prostate cancer falls under the high risk category and often tumor markers are used to identify the same. These tumor markers consist of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. If the level of PSA is higher than normal then it indicates infection, enlargement or a prostate disease. It is the test of PSA velocity that determines whether it is an aggressive prostate cancer or not. Besides PSA velocity, the Gleason score also forms an important parameter to identify the aggressive prostate cancer. It grades the appearance of the mutated cells and indicates how aggressive the cancer cells are.

It has also been observed that level of MDM2; a blood protein can determine the stage of prostate cancer. High level of MDM2 is more likely to be correlated with aggressive prostate cancer. These MDM2 shields the cancer cells from being destroyed by hormone therapy or radiation and interferes with the working of cancer regulating molecule that is p53. This test can help in early treatment of aggressive prostate cancer.

Another research study indicates that low levels of AZGP1 marker may also indicate higher risk of aggressive prostate cancer. This level of AZGP1 can be ascertained at the time of surgical removal of prostate gland. So, if that level of AZGP1 can be ascertained then, radiotherapy or chemotherapy during surgery can cure potential risk of aggressive prostate cancer.

Research studies have found that tiny bubbles of fat in urine referred to as exosomes can be a great indicator to spot early signs of aggressive prostate cancer. These exosomes are produces directly from cancer cells and it consists of genetic material called RNA. RNA determines which genes are responsible for the cancerous disease. This will lead to evolution of more effective tests to spot aggressive prostate cancer.