It is often said that men are hard pressed to work outside and worry about their careers, while at home they take care of their wives and children.
Even in terms of physiological data, men’s suffering is well documented. According to the World Health Organization’s list of life expectancy by country, released in May 2016, the top 20 countries have a female life expectancy that is 3 to 6 years higher than that of men.
▲ World Health Organization 2015 list of life expectancy by country
Source: Wikipedia
On top of that, men’s health often lights up red and endures some unspeakable hardships. Since October is Pink Ribbon Month every year, the world is concerned about women’s breast health and the fight against breast cancer. So, come November, there should be a men’s health month, Movember, too.
Don’t think it’s a spelling mistake, but this newly coined term is a combination of “Mustache” and “November,” which stands for the annual worldwide November “Mustache” charity. The new term is a combination of “Mustache” and “November” and stands for the worldwide “Grow a Beard” charity campaign each November to raise awareness and funds to fight men’s worst enemy, prostate cancer.
▲Stop men dying too young
Source: Global Prostate Cancer Foundation website www.pcf.org
Why are the numbers of prostate cancer increasing? Who is at risk of getting prostate cancer? The first of its kind is the “number one killer” of older men, which has been lurking in men’s bodies for a long time.
60% of prostate cancer patients in China are found to be late
Costs at least $400,000 to $1 million
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“The biggest problem with prostate cancer is that we find it too late!”
Wang Zhihua, deputy chief physician of the Department of Urology at Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, nailed the current situation of prostate cancer patients in China in one sentence.
In fact, prostate cancer is so common in Western countries that it has surpassed lung cancer as the first malignant tumor to develop in Northern Europe and the United States. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2009 there were nearly 200,000 new prostate cancers and nearly 30,000 deaths in the United States, with an average of one diagnosis every three minutes and one out of every nine American men diagnosed.
Even more frightening is that many older men have cancer in their prostate, but it is slow to be detected. One survey showed that 50% of older men aged 70 to 79 had cancer cells in their prostate, and 67% of older men aged 80 to 89, which could progress at any time and threaten the patient’s life.
In China, prostate cancer has become the fastest growing malignancy. 60,300 new cases of prostate cancer and 26,600 deaths occurred in China in 2015. The trend of increasing prostate cancer in big cities is especially obvious compared to rural areas. For example, the incidence of prostate cancer in Beijing has increased from 5.53/100,000 in 2001 to 16.62/100,000 in 2010, a more than threefold increase.
But it is worth noting that unlike in Europe and the United States, prostate cancer patients in China are often diagnosed at an advanced stage.
According to the Expert Consensus on Prostate Cancer Screening published by the Chinese Anti-Cancer Society in 2017, nearly 81% of new prostate cancer cases diagnosed in the United States are clinically limited prostate cancer, with a 5-year survival rate of nearly 90%, while only 30% of new cases in China are clinically limited patients, and the rest are locally advanced or extensively metastatic patients, who cannot receive local radical treatment and have poorer treatment outcomes.
Wang Zhihua explained that this is because most early prostate cancer does not have obvious symptoms, even if the tumor grows to a certain size to compress the urethra, it only causes some non-specific manifestations similar to prostate enlargement such as poor urination, frequent urination and urgency, resulting in the majority of patients with initially diagnosed prostate cancer in China are already in the middle and late stages.
“At present, the situation of prostate cancer in China is that 60% of patients coming to the hospital are already in advanced stages (5% in the United States and developed European countries), losing the opportunity for radical treatment and requiring lifelong endocrine therapy-based comprehensive treatment (costing about $80,000 to $100,000 per year).” Zhou Fangjian, director of the Department of Urology at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Hospital, has said that the total medical cost per patient is at least $400,000 to $1 million based on a general survival time of 5 to 10 years for advanced prostate cancer, while only 40% of prostate cancer patients are in the early stage, where radical treatment can be applied.
Prostate cancer strikes four types of people
Be careful if you get one!
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With an average annual increase of 12% in incidence, why is the number of prostate cancer cases increasing in China?
It starts with the risk factors for prostate cancer.
1) Age This is the biggest risk factor for prostate cancer, and the risk of prostate cancer is significantly higher in men over the age of 50 than under the age of 50. The older a prostate cancer patient is at the time of diagnosis, the less aggressive his or her prostate cancer usually is.
② Genetics A family member who has prostate cancer is at higher risk of developing prostate cancer. If someone in your immediate family (father/son or brother) has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, your risk is 2 times higher than the general population, and if 2 to 3 immediate family members have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, this risk of developing the disease is 5 to 11 times higher. Research has identified several genes that may increase the risk of prostate cancer, but it is estimated that hereditary prostate cancer accounts for only 5-10% of all prostate cancer cases.
③Race Black Americans have about a 60% higher risk of prostate cancer than whites and are generally more malignant, but Asians and men living locally in Africa, who have a low incidence of prostate cancer, have a dramatic increase in the odds of developing it after immigrating to the U.S. This also suggests that prostate cancer is not only related to race, but may also be related to environmental factors such as a high-fat diet, excessive red meat intake, and a high risk of prostate cancer. This also suggests that prostate cancer may be related not only to race but also to environmental factors such as high fat diet and excessive red meat intake.
④Diet Research suggests that a high-fat diet may be a risk factor for prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is more common in countries where meat and dairy products are the mainstay of the diet compared to those where rice, soy products and vegetables are the basic diet.
Overall, the increased incidence of prostate cancer in this country is associated with an aging population and a westernized lifestyle. For example, obesity due to a diet high in animal fat and lack of exercise is one of the important risk factors for prostate cancer.
So eating more fruits and vegetables, maintaining a balanced and healthy diet, and exercising more in general are all excellent for preventing prostate cancer!
There are three “magic words” to catch prostate cancer
Awareness of PSA screening in China is too low!
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As mentioned earlier, prostate cancer likes to “lurk” for a long time and can be clinically asymptomatic, so it is difficult to detect this “thief” based on one’s subjective perception.
In fact, there are many ways to diagnose, but there are three main ones.
First, there is prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening, which is the most sensitive tumor marker for prostate cancer. PSA screening allows for the diagnosis of prostate cancer five to eight years earlier, The average healthy man has a serum PSA concentration of <4μg/L, and most patients are diagnosed with prostate cancer when PSA>10μg/L.
Second, there is the rectal exam (yes, that’s right, you know ……), which is the easiest straightforward (cu) and common way to diagnose early prostate cancer.
The prostate gland is close to the front of the rectum, and normal rectal palpation feels the size of the prostate gland about 4cm*3cm, with a soft texture, smooth surface, no nodular feeling, and symmetry between the two lobes. When there is prostate enlargement, the volume of the prostate gland increases but the texture is not very hard, while prostate cancer is hard, like a stone block.
Lastly, we have a transrectal ultrasound, which is a sophisticated “radar” for searching for prostate cancer, to assist doctors in determining the size and clinical stage of the tumor.
However, a few years ago, there was a national debate about prostate cancer screening, stemming from a randomized controlled study in the United States and Europe, which concluded that PSA screening was inadequate, had little survival benefit, and resulted in significant overdiagnosis and overtreatment.
Dr. Wang Zhihua said that after nearly 30 years of use, PSA screening for middle-aged and older men in Europe and the United States is mostly covered by health insurance, with full awareness of early diagnosis of prostate cancer, while the situation in China is very different. employee physicals are actively included, and many patients are missed.”
In 2017, national experts also reached a consensus on prostate cancer screening: Men older than 50 years, older than 45 years with a family history of prostate cancer, older than 40 years with a baseline PSA>1ng/ml should have serum PSA testing as early as possible, and every 2 years.
On the whole, although prostate cancer is raging, in fact, there is no need to worry too much about it, it is among all malignant tumors is a better type of treatment, the 5-year survival rate of patients with limited prostate cancer is close to 100%, treatment also includes radical surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, endocrine therapy and other various means, but at the same time, prostate cancer also has a certain degree of heterogeneity, the degree of danger varies greatly, if dragged to the late stage, the The most important thing is that it is not only a good idea to have a good time.
So, for all of you eligible men, it’s time to schedule a PSA test for your health!