Prostate Cancer is an alarming case for the males, and a guy like me should be aware and learn more about Prostate Cancer, it’s the 4th leading cause of death and cases and dub also as a silent killer for males. I went to this press con about Prostate cancer in order to be aware and be ready if ever it hits me, I’m kinda horrified when I learned on how they treat it and also the DRE test using a finger and insert it a guy’s anus to check if there are swelling or cancer inside it. Prostate cancer can hit a 20-30 year old guy and in that range of age it is hard to tell and detect if you have it, but around 50 years old, you can notice the symptoms and the complication and spread of cancer will begin. (more story below)
At the press con, Sonia Roco, the wife of the late Senator Raul Roco who died due to complications of the Prostate cancer last August 2005, Mrs. Roco become a speaker and advocate to fight prostate cancer and she shared to us her story about Sen. Roco’s fight and brave spirit in beating the cancer, she said “Raul was a fighter, and he said that we will fight this cancer and do the best we can do” She said that history will be affect everyone once the Prostate cancer arrives, and with that case, being aware of it is very important.
Did you know that there are around 4,000 cases of Prostate cancer in the year 2007, and I can’t imagine what will be numbers for last year and this year, but that’s not important for me, the big thing is that I’m aware of it and I know that there’s a drug developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) that can lower the risk to have Prostate Cancer by 23% overall, and that drug is called “dutasteride”
Dutasteride, a drug used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (prostate enlargement), has recently received approval from the local Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) on its use for the reduction in the risk of prostate cancer in men at increased risk of developing the disease. The Philippines is the first country in Asia to have the only approved medication that can help reduce the risk of prostate cancer.
Findings in the Reduction by Dutasteride of Prostate Cancer Events (REDUCE) study, one of the largest international, clinical trials for prostate cancer, show that dutasteride effectively lowers the risk of prostate cancer by as much as 31.4% for patients with family history and 23% overall risk reduction. The study involved 6,700 participants, aged 50 to 75 with high risk of having prostate cancer. According to Dr. Gerald Andriole, Chief of Urological Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine, dutasteride acts to keep the tumor at bay.
Dutasteride can inhibit both both type 1 and type 2 5-alpha reductase enzymes. These two enzymes are responsible for converting testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is the most potent male hormone in the prostate. Both type 1 and type 2 are present in prostate tissue while type 1 can be increased in prostate cancer.
Several factors are known to increase the risk of developing prostate cancer such as alcohol, smoking, obesity, diabetes, race, prostate volume, family history, age and an elevated Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). Of the factors mentioned, family history, age and elevated PSA pose the strongest risk factors in the development of prostate cancer.
