Prostate Size May Be Clue to Severity of Cancer

FRIDAY, Feb. 10 (HealthDay News) --

The size of a man's prostate gland may help doctors predict the severity of his prostate cancer, according to a new study.

Researchers from the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tenn., found smaller prostates that produce higher levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in the blood are more often linked to serious forms of prostate cancer that require aggressive treatment.

What it's really about is the ratio of PSA to size, or PSA density, meaning that a small prostate that is making a lot of PSA is likely to be due to a bad tumor, whereas a large prostate making a lot of PSA is likely to be due to benign enlargement of the prostate (BPH).

The study's authors suggest the findings could help doctors determine the best course of treatment for patients with prostate cancer. For instance, low-risk patients with a small prostate might benefit from aggressive treatment.

The researchers pointed out that the findings are significant since men with prostate cancer who are considered low-risk may receive less aggressive treatment or just be placed under observation.

The researchers cautioned that more accurate tests are still needed to determine which cancers are actually threatening to patients.


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Prostate Size May Be Clue to Severity of Cancer

Erectile drugs might help premature ejaculation

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -

Most studies looking at whether erectile dysfunction drugs can help men overcome premature ejaculation problems agree that the pills make a difference, but much of the research is flawed, according to a new review of the evidence.

The drugs, which go by the brand names Viagra, Levitra and Cialis, are intended to treat men who have problems getting and keeping an erection.

Asimakopoulos and his colleagues ran into problems trying to compare the studies. For one, they didn't always agree on the definition of premature ejaculation.

The other stumbling block to the group's analysis was that fewer than half of the studies compared the drugs to a placebo, a standard for high-quality studies that helps researchers determine whether the drug itself is responsible for any effects seen.

"There seems to be a global positive effect of these drugs in delaying ejaculation; however, the existing evidence is still partial and their role remains controversial,"


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Erectile drugs might help premature ejaculation

Heart Disease May Be Risk Factor for Prostate Cancer (HealthDay)

THURSDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Heart disease may be a risk factor for prostate cancer, a new study suggests.

If this link is confirmed in future research, it means that lifestyle changes that reduce heart disease risk -- such as weight loss, exercise and a healthy diet -- may also protect men against prostate cancer, the Duke Cancer Institute researchers said.

The Duke researchers found that men with coronary artery disease had a 35 percent greater risk of developing prostate cancer over time and a 24 percent greater risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer within the first two years of the study compared to men who did not have heart disease.

Read the full HealthDay News report:
Heart Disease May Be Risk Factor for Prostate Cancer