India has gained renown for being the capital of medical tourism. People from the US, UK, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Australia, Kenya, New Zealand, and many more countries take treatment here. Among cancers, prostate cancer is quite prevalent among men with an estimated 1.69 million cases by 2030.
Prostate cancer occurrence
The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system. This secretes the milky fluid of the semen that neutralizes that found in the vaginal tract. The cancer may be slow or aggressive and the aggressive ones could metastasize and spread to the bones and lymph nodes.
Types of prostate cancer
The overseas patients come to India for treatment because the cost of prostate cancer treatment in India is low. You have different types of prostate cancer. Here is the list:
Ductal Adenocarcinoma: The cancer starts in the lining of the tube of the prostate and spreads rather fast. Due to this reason, this type of cancer is often diagnosed only in the advanced stages.
Squamous cell cancer: There are flat cells covering the prostate. This type of cancer begins in these cells and spread faster than the Adenocarcinoma. This is also detected only when the cancer has reached an advanced stage.
Acinar Adenocarcinoma: This constitutes more than 90% of all prostate cancers. This begins with the gland cells and mostly the cancer spreads quite slowly.
Carcinoid: The tum our starts in the neuro endocrine system cells but this type of cancer is relatively rare. The neuro endocrine system has gland cells and specialized nerve cells.
Sarcoma cancer: This type of cancer begins from the muscle cells. They grow quickly and are mostly found in men between the ages of 35 and 60.
Symptoms of prostate cancer
The most common symptoms of prostate cancer are given below:
- Pain during ejaculation
- A feeling that one has not emptied their bladder completely
- Frequent urge to urinate and accompanying pain
- Low back pain
- Blood in the urine/semen
Diagnosis of this ailment
A series of tests are performed to determine the presence of the cancer. Depending on the state of the patient the doctor will perform one or more of these tests.
- Biopsy: In this, the body cells are removed and examined under a microscope for the presence of cancer cells.
- PSA test: The Prostate-Specific Antigen Test is done on a small sample of blood taken from your arm. A small amount of prostate is normal but when the amount is more it might be due to cancer.
- CT/MRI scan: If the cancer has spread beyond the prostate, then one needs to pinpoint it through these scans.
The prostate cancer treatment in India cost is only one-third of that in the US.
Cancer development stages
You have various stages in the development of the cancer. This varies from stage I to stage IV. The treatment options are as follows:
- Robotic surgery: In this a robot is used to hold the surgery tools during the surgery. This type of surgery is high precision and has less associated risk.
- Laser surgery: In this, the obstructive prostate tissue is vaporized by the use of a laser beam. Since, there is no need to open the abdomen, many patients prefer this.
There are many other types of cancers and treatments too. However, there are many hospitals where one can undergo treatment. Check with the concerned hospital for more details.