This weekend the news about the diagnosis of former US President Joe Biden of advanced, aggressive prostate cancer shock waves around the world.
The 82-year-old disease was spotted after a ‘small lump’ was investigated on his prostate and tests later showed that the cancer spread to its bones.
Now MailOnline can reveal the gloomy prospects for men with the same type of advanced cancer, which can usually only be survived for only five to ten years.
Biden revealed that his illness received a Gleason score of nine.
A Gleason score is a system that doctors use to assess prostate cancer with the help of samples taken from a biopsy that assess its aggressiveness, how likely it is to grow and spread.
The scale goes up to 10, which means that Biden has received the second highest potential score.
A result of nine means that the cancer looks like it will probably grow and spread with a ‘moderately fast speed’, according to Prostate Cancer UK.
Study Led on thousands of men with the disease, only about one in three of the diagnosis of a 9-10 Gleason score lived at the end of a Follow-up of 10 years.
Former US President Joe Biden could have only had years left to live, given that his prostate cancer is aggressive, distributed and was captured late, data suggests. Biden depicted in January of this year
Of the rest, almost half died of the disease and almost one in four of other causes such as advanced age.
But Biden’s cancer has already spread to its bones, which implies that it is at stage 4.
These are the later stages where the disease has spread to other parts of the body, also known as metastatic cancer.
Although Biden’s disease has been described as ‘Stadium 5’, this usually refers to a very advanced stage 4.
Data from Cancer Research UK shows that only 50 percent of men with the diagnosis stage live four prostate cancer five years after their diagnosis.
However, there are general statistics for men of all ages that are diagnosed at this stage.
Biden, in the 80s, will be confronted with regard to his age for additional challenges.
Of all deaths by prostate cancer included in the UK of all phases, the vast majority (75 percent) belong to 75 years and older.
Ben Lamb, a urological surgeon of the consultant, Barts Health and University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts said that cases of prostate cancer such as Biden’s account for the minority of the cases.
“Most prostate cancer, about four fifths, is diagnosed in the UK before it is metastatic, with a fifth diagnosed with metastatic disease,” he said.
He added that most cases of late diagnosis are linked to ‘deprivation, ethnicity and older men’.
Mr. Lamb added that in cases like Biden’s, the go-to-to-option for treatment is usually hormone therapy to stop the cancer spread.
‘Prostate cancer depends on testosterone to grow, and by blocking testosterone production and action, the cancer can be treated effectively but cannot be cured.
‘Extra modern hormone medicines (known as Artas) are also given, and these are known to extend the survival. Chemotherapy can also be given. ‘
He added that, for most men, the first symptom that they stand out, are problems with urination, but this in the early stages.
Biden had recently reported urine problems, a well -known red flag for the disease.
Every year in the UK, more than 52,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK
As the disease progresses, patients such as Biden will be confronted with additional problems caused by their growing cancer, Mr Lamb added.
“In stage disease, some men can have symptoms of metastatic disease, such as fatigue, bone pain or weight loss,” he said.
‘Lymph nodal distribution can cause blockade of the kidneys with kidney failure and swelling of leg.
“If the prostate tumor is great, it can cause bladder symptoms, although in most men they are generally of a benign expansion of the prostate as men get older.”
Several doctors have wondered how Mr. Biden’s cancer could have been caught so late, given his age that he has an advanced risk of the disease and it can be screened by routine blood tests.
“It is unthinkable that this was not followed before he left the presidency,” Dr. wrote Howie Forman, a professor of radiology and biomedical imaging, public health management and economy at Yale.
He noted that the test for prostate -specific Antigen had shown a while before this diagnosis that he had cancer, giving how aggressive it is.
About 55,000 British men and more than 300,000 in the US are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year.
The survival of the disease has improved enormously over time thanks to screening, greater consciousness of symptoms and better treatments.
In the 1970s it was expected that only a quarter of the men would survive a year after their diagnosis.
However, this has now risen to around 80 percent.
In general, cancer is easiest to treat if they are caught in the earlier stages and patients tend to have better results.
Because of the location of the prostate – the gland is under the bladder and wrapping around the urethra – it usually causes urinary tract symptoms.
If a man notices this, it is important to speak and discuss with a doctor or something that is called a PSA test can be justified.
PSA stands for prostate -specific antigen, a hormone that is produced in higher quantities by the prostate if there is a problem with the gland.
One of the most common signs that something is wrong with the prostate is a change in urine frequency.
Although the amount that people urinate can vary greatly – everything can be considered between four and ten or so times as normal – it is a noticeable increase that experts say men must be aware.
Sudden drifts – who want to rush to the toilet – can also be a sign of a problem.
This can be linked with difficulty to start peeing, medically known as hesitation.
#long #Biden #Experts #reveal #gloomy #prognosis #men #advanced #prostate #cancer #hope