Expert says prostate cancer treatment, management is whole family decision



Prof Ajibola Jeje, Consultant Urological Surgeon, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) has said that prostrate cancer treatment and management was usually, the whole family decision.



Jeje disclosed this at the SUNU Health Maintenance Organisation quarterly webinar themed “Prostrate Diseases (A Family Burden)” in Lagos on Wednesday.



He said that the prostate was an internal male reproductive organ located at the base of the bladder and shaped like a compressed inverted cone.



He said that it functions was to store and secret a clear and slightly alkaline fluid that constitute 10 to 30 per cent of seminal fluid and was responsible for the male sex characteristics.



He said that Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) was defined as a benign (non cancerous) enlargement of the prostrate gland and was not a life threatening condition.



Jeje said that common benign tumour in men who have tested and lived long enough with ageing, family history, western life style among others as risk factors.



He said that its prevalence was 25 per cent in 40 to 60 year old men, 50 per cent in 50 to 60 year old men, 65 per cent in 60 to 70 year old men, 80 per cent in 70 to 80 year old men and 90 per cent in 80 to 90 year old men.



He said that prostate cancer was now the second most common cause of cancer death in men and as the population of the world progressively ages, so the burden of BPH and prostate cancer would inevitably rise



The Urologists said that one in 30 men would die from it, 20,000 annually in Nigeria and its often detected at an advanced stage.



He said that questions for detecting Prostatic diseases are do you get up at night to pass urine, is your urine flow slow and are you bothered by your bladder function?



He said differential diagnosis includes BPH, bladder stone, urethral stricture and Neurogenic bladder.



He said treatment strategies which usually was the decision of the whole family includes watchful waiting, combination therapy, surgery among others.



Jeje said that pre medical treatment was lifestyle modification, reduction of fluid intake at specific times and fibre intake to reduce constipation.



He said that over the past 20 years, overall survival rates for all stages of prostate cancer had increased from 67 per cent to 89 per cent.