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Small cell carcinoma of the prostate is a very rare form of prostate cancer. Most cancers
of the prostate are what are called adenocarcinoma of the prostate. Small cell carcinomas typically
originate in the lung and are also called oat cell cancers. There are cases however
where they can primarily occur in the prostate, bladder, colon, and these tend to be somewhat
more aggressive cancers, difficult to detect because a small cell cancer of the prostate
will not cause a rise in your PSA. The cancer is typically not treated with surgery, but
with chemotherapy and usually combination chemotherapy with drugs like cisplatin and
etoposide. These drugs have significant side effects of causing bone marrow suppression
where it can lower your red blood cells and white cells and platelets. They can cause
hair loss and amongst other side effects. Small cell cancers tend to give short-term
response to chemotherapies and have a history of a high recurrence rate and poor long-term
survival.
Some prostate cancers are high risk, aggressive, and more likely to spread. Others are low
risk, least likely to have bad outcomes. The biopsy says cancer, but correct diagnostic
tools provide limited information about how aggressive a man's individual disease is,
so most men decide to treat prostate cancer immediately. Once treated, many men experience
serious long term side effects, like incontinence and *** impotence. Immediate treatment
is not always needed, but right now a man cannot be sure if his cancer is the kind that
is likely to require treatment or if he is okay to wait for now. What if there was a
test that could determine how aggressive prostate cancer is? Genomic Health is developing a
new test to do just that. By reviewing the underlying biology of the tumor and using
genes for multiple biologic pathways, the test can predict the aggressiveness of prostate
cancer when diagnosed, allowing a man to make a more informed treatment decision with confidence,
taking care of himself with more information, and greater peace of mind.