The treatment for prostate cancer depends on the stage of the disease, the patient’s overall health, and personal preferences.
Lawrence W. Dagrosa, MDThe office of President Joe Biden announced Sunday afternoon that Biden, 82, was diagnosed on Friday with prostate cancer that had metastasized in his skeleton. While the aggressive form of cancer the former president was diagnosed with is rare, prostate cancer overall is not: according to the American Cancer Society, about 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer, which can range from slow-growing to aggressive, is the most common cancer in men in the United States, and the second-leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind lung cancer.
“The treatment for prostate cancer depends on the stage of the disease, the patient’s overall health, and personal preferences,” said Lawrence M. Dagrosa, MD, a urologist who treats prostate cancer patients at Dartmouth Cancer Center. “Common treatment options may include active surveillance for early-stage or slow-growing prostate cancer, surgery (prostatectomy), radiation therapy, hormone therapy, chemotherapy or immunotherapy.”
Many men know that they should start screening for prostate cancer as they get older, but other factors besides age play a role in a man’s individual risk factor. “Symptoms of prostate cancer generally only appear in later stages,” Dagrosa said. “Men over the age of 50 are at higher risk, and African-American men tend to have a higher incidence. A family history of prostate cancer, as well as certain genetic mutations, are also linked to an elevated risk.”
Besides being aware of these risk factors and screening accordingly, most prostate cancer patients show no symptoms of disease. Unlike testicular or breast cancer, there is no telltale lump that the patient can sometimes feel. Some men may have trouble urinating, but this is common in men as they age and is more likely related to a non-cancerous condition.
“Unfortunately, this means that without screening, there is almost no way to detect these cancers early when they are the most treatable,” Dagrosa said. “Symptoms such as pain in the hips, back or pelvis from metastatic prostate cancer, like the kind President Biden was recently found to have, are only seen in the later stages of the disease.”
Today, May 20, is international Clinical Trials Day. Dartmouth Cancer Center is currently running six trials for the treatment of prostate cancer at sites in New Hampshire and Vermont. Learn more about prostate cancer by visiting the webpage for Dartmouth Cancer Center’s Genitourinary Oncology Program.
About Dartmouth Cancer Center
Since 1972, Dartmouth Cancer Center (DCC) has combined groundbreaking and advanced cancer research at Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine with award-winning, personalized, compassionate, patient-centered cancer care and clinical trials. At its flagship location at Dartmouth Health’s Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, with 14 locations across New Hampshire and Vermont, DCC is one of fewer than 60 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers nationally. Each year, DCC manages 74,000 appointments, treats more than 4,500 newly diagnosed patients, and currently offers more than 240 active clinical trials. DCC remains committed to excellence, outreach and education. DCC strives to create new knowledge and impact, accelerate integrated and collaborative research to prevent and cure cancer, enhance survivorship and promote cancer-related health equity. Learn more at cancer.dartmouth.edu.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and largest private employer, serves patients across New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,300 providers in nearly every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. Its network of hospitals, outpatient centers, clinics and home care facilities, spans a broad geographical area. Year after year, DHMC is named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is consistently recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, northern New England’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of less than than 60 total nationally; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital (Children’s Hospital at DHMC/CHaD) and more than 20 locations around the region; eight member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont, Hampstead, and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Dartmouth Health Home Care; Dartmouth Health Connected Care Center for Telehealth, serving patients as far away as Texas; and more than 30 primary and multi-specialty clinics across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its partnership with Dartmouth College, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and the White River Junction VA Medical Center, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials with international impact. Dartmouth Health and its more than 16,000 employees are committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in the communities it serves and to providing every patient with exceptional, state-of-the-art, personalized care. Learn more at dartmouth-health.org.