CBN.com – Cancer experts estimate about 250,000 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year. Sadly, about 30,000 will die of the disease by the end of the year. In today's CBN News focus report, Science and Medical reporter Gailon Totheroh has the story on finding, treating and preventing this growing killer of men.
While any man can get prostate cancer, it strikes most often in men over 50 like Ellis Corets. Corets is back actively biking after his diagnosis of prostate cancer and surgical treatment.

"I didn't want to hear about a re-occurrence, maybe ten years later, when my life expectancy is much greater than that," says Corets. "So I chose the surgery to be cured."

The prostate gland is a small gland about the size of a walnut that is involved in male sexual function.

To check for cancer of the prostate, doctors often recommend:

Annual screenings beginning at age 40 for those with a father or brother who has had the disease and African-American men who are also at high risk.
Other men should begin those screenings at age 50.
Men who've not been screened may not know the two tests involved:

A finger exam that allows a physician to feel for potentially cancerous nodules from inside the rectum.
A blood test for prostate-specific antigen, or PSA.
When urologist Michael Goodman first practiced medicine, there was no PSA test and he had a patient tragically die at age 57 of advanced prostate cancer.

"Now I have to think that if he had the PSA test available, perhaps he would have had a manageable cancer in his early fifties that we could have treated," explains Goodman.

And as far as men looking for symptoms, Dr. Richard Roberts says that's rarely helpful.

"Most men with prostate cancer have no symptoms at all, but when they do have symptoms, it depends on where the prostate cancer has gone," points out Roberts. "If it's still local in the area of the prostate, they may have trouble urinating -- a slow stream or irritation with urination If it's spread beyond the prostate and gone to the bone such as the spine or the hip, they may have pain in those areas."

Goodman relies heavily on the PSA test in his deliberations. If a man's PSA test is fairly high or normal but rising, he often prescribes a preventive combination of a drug and three nutrients. If the PSA is high, roughly four or higher, he often will recommend a biopsy.

The process of checking for prostate cancer:

A biopsy involves inserting tiny needles into the prostate.
The number of samples taken may be as high as 12.
All samples are then checked for cancer cells.
If cancer is found, the patient has a number of options:

Do nothing, especially for those who are quite elderly
Radiation therapy with radioactive beams or insertion of radioactive pellets
Remove the prostate gland, done in about a third of cases.
The standard surgery is an open radical prostatectomy, but now there's an innovative surgical technique called laparascopic radical prostatectomy, or LRP. LRP does not require the usual large abdominal incision, but uses small entry sites. With special lighting, tiny cameras, and advanced surgical instruments, a skilled surgeon can remove the prostate while sparing damage to delicate surrounding tissues. As a result, this new, less invasive surgery promises reduced blood loss, faster recovery, and less likelihood of side effects such as problems with urination.

Since 1999, there have been over 500 LRP surgeries. But when there is no cancer, but a high risk of it developing, Goodman employs a synergistic combination he developed over a decade ago to help prevent it.

The fourfold daily regimen:

A prescription drug that reduces enlargement of the prostate that comes with aging: Proscar® at 5 mg or the newer Avodart® at .5 mg.
Two vitamins:

2. Vitamin A - 20,000 IU
Vitamin D - 800 IU
Plus the antioxidant mineral:

(4) Selenium - 200 mcg.

Goodman cites a study that originally looked into selenium for skin cancer prevention.

"The study was so impressive, not for the cancer of the skin, but for cancer of the prostate, cancer of the colon and cancer of the lung, that they had to abort the study and put everybody on selenium," comments Goodman. "And the reduction in the cancer of the prostate was roughly 80%."

Goodman says he's found excellent results in preventing prostate cancer in men like Barney Doyle, one of his first patients on the treatment. Ten years ago, Doyle's PSA was a very troubling 9, but now stays between one and two.

"Just when you reach the point where you know something isn't right, go get it looked at and hopefully get the right people to look for it," says Doyle.

Both Doyle and Corets say facing prostate disease has helped them appreciate life more than ever.

"Having prostate cancer, I believe, changed my life as well as any cancer would change any person's life," shares Coret. "I appreciate having one more day. Every day is special now."

For more information on Pat Robertson's physician, Dr. Arnon Krongrad, please visit his website

http://www.krongrad-urology.com/

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