Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men. At least one in eight men is diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. As written on the Everyday Health
page , urological surgeon at Memorial Hermann Medical Group in Webster, Texas Douglas Dow, MD, the key to treating prostate cancer is early detection. Detection is usually done with a combination of what is known as a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test and a rectal exam.
“Most cases are detected at a less advanced stage, but about 5 to 7 percent of men have metastatic cancer when they are diagnosed,” Tudor Borza, an assistant professor of urology at the University of Michigan, told Antara.
Prostate cancer stages range from stage 1, when the tumor is so small that it may not be detected by physical examination or ultrasound, to stage 4, when there is tumor growth outside the prostate, according to the ACS.
“When prostate cancer has spread to the bone, it’s considered stage 4, the most advanced stage. In general, stage 4 cancer is not considered curable,” says Dr. Borza.
Prostate cancer, and all prostate cancers, start as “hormone-sensitive,” meaning they can be treated with androgen deprivation, which lowers testosterone levels, says Dr. Bilal Siddiqui, MD, an oncologist and prostate cancer researcher at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
But at some point, even when testosterone is removed from the body, cancer will continue to grow, Dow said.
A few weeks ago, former U.S. President Joe Biden was reported to have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, a Gleason score of 9 (Grade 5) with bone metastases.
Several cancer specialists not involved in Biden’s care have said that aggressive, advanced prostate cancer that has spread to the bones, like Biden’s, is incurable.
“While it is treatable, it is not curable,” Siddiqui said.
Because advanced cancer like Biden’s is incurable, the main goal of treatment is to stop the tumor from growing, which can buy patients more time.