The prostate is a small gland that only men have. It is normally about the size of a walnut. The prostate is located underneath the bladder and in front of the rectum. Because the prostate is close to the rectum, it can be felt by a doctor during a digital rectal exam (the part of a physical where the doctor inserts a gloved, lubricated finger into a man's anus). The prostate makes and stores fluid that is part of semen, and this fluid is released from a man's penis during ejaculation. The prostate is signaled to do its job by the male hormone testosterone, which can influence the behavior of the prostate gland and prostate cancer. Nerves to the penis that are important in producing and maintaining an erection run very close to the prostate. The prostate completely encircles the tube that carriers urine from the bladder to the penis, called the urethra. If the prostate enlarges, it can block the flow of urine from the bladder making it difficult for a man to urinate.

What is prostate cancer?

Prostate cancer happens when cells in the prostate begin to grow out of control and can then invade nearby tissues or spread throughout the body. Large collections of this out of control tissue are called tumors. However, some tumors are not really cancer because they cannot spread or threaten someone's life. These are called benign tumors. The tumors that can spread throughout the body or invade nearby tissues are considered cancer and are called malignant tumors. Usually, prostate cancer is very slow growing. However, sometimes it will grow quickly and spread to nearby lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are small, pea-sized pieces of tissue that filter and clean lymph, a clear liquid waste product. If prostate cancer has spread to your lymph nodes when it is diagnosed, it means that there is higher chance that it has spread to other areas of the body.

The gland and its cancer

This is the gland that you will be learning so much about. Notice its location sandwiched between the rectum and the bladder. Find the seminal vesicles (SV), and the nerves (Neurovascular bundle). All of these are important in your treatment decision.

Prostate and Surrounding area.

This is where the gland is located in relationship to the rest of the body. Again note its closeness to the other organs and where the seminal vesicles.

Now to see a ultra sound picture of what cancer looks like.

The photo above is a picture of the Ultrasound Screen at the time of an actual biopsy.  On the picture on the left you will notice a kind of a broken white line that goes from the right of the photo, up and across and then down toward the bottom. At the left end of the white line you will see the beginning of a dark area that extends down to the bottom of the scan. Now go to the right picture and at about the same place you will see a long blue area in the same place as the dark area on the left picture. The reason that this is blue is because cancer cells need a lot of blood to grow and the blue indicates that this area is "hot" and more blood then in the other areas. The balance of the blue and the red areas also show blood but these are normal parts of the prostate. The blue dot above the line of the prostate is probably a blood vessel.

The single cancerous area is of an average size of 1.3cm. It actually involves both lobes and is on both sides of the Apex - which is an area that the cancer seems to migrate from.

Remember! The expertise of the doctor doing a procedure is more important than the procedure itself.

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