Prostate Cancer

Torrance Memorial’s Hunt Cancer Institute, an affiliate of Cedars-Sinai Cancer, is committed to delivering prompt diagnosis and optimal treatment, tailored to individual needs, as well as providing practical and emotional support to people with prostate cancer and their families.

Our patients benefit from our multidisciplinary approach, in which our experienced team meets regularly to discuss treatment and progress with your primary care physician, urologist, pathologist and other specialists involved in your care. We offer state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment technologies, including robotic prostatectomy using the da Vinci Surgical System, and a wide range of clinical trials.

Recognized Prostate Cancer Care

Torrance Memorial has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report for prostate cancer care.

What is Prostate Cancer?

Prostate cancer begins and grows in the prostate gland and usually grows very slowly. In fact, many patients with prostate cancer die of other causes. Even aggressive cases of localized prostate cancer can often be treated successfully with surgery or radiation therapy.

Risk Factors

Age is the single most important risk factor for prostate cancer, which mainly affects older adults. Four out of five cases are diagnosed in men over age 65, while less than 1% are diagnosed in men under 50. Besides age, other risk factors for prostate cancer include:

Race and ethnicity
Geography
Family history
Gene changes
Diet
Obesity
Smoking
Workplace exposure, including firefighting
Inflammation of the prostate
Sexually transmitted infections
Vasectomy

Signs & Symptoms

In its early stages, prostate cancer often has no symptoms. As prostate cancer grows, it may cause the following signs and symptoms:

Problems urinating, including a slow or weak urinary stream or the need to urinate more often, especially at night
Blood in the urine
Trouble getting an erection, also known as erectile dysfunction
Pain in the hips, back, chest, ribs or other areas from cancer that has spread to the bones
Weakness or numbness in the legs or feet, or loss of bladder or bowel control from cancer pressing on the spinal cord

Other conditions can also cause many of these same symptoms. For example, trouble urinating is much more often caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia, also known as BPH, than by cancer. Still, it’s important to tell your doctor if you have any of these problems so that the cause can be found and treated, if needed.

Screening

The best way to detect prostate cancer in its early stages is with regular digital rectal exams and prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, blood tests.

Committed to leading-edge cancer diagnostics, Torrance Memorial offers digital rectal exams and PSA blood tests for those concerned about prostate cancer or who want to be monitored actively.

Diagnosis

Since prostate cancer frequently has no symptoms, most prostate cancers are first found during an annual physical exam or screening. A PSA blood test may indicate the possible presence of prostate cancer, or a physician may detect it with a digital rectal exam, also known as a DRE. During this exam, a gloved, lubricated finger is inserted into the rectum to feel for any bumps or hard areas on the prostate, which may be signs of cancer.

A higher than normal PSA test result or abnormalities discovered during the DRE may lead your doctor to order a prostate biopsy to find out whether cancer is present.

Prostate cancer diagnosis is usually done with a core needle biopsy. In this test, the doctor quickly inserts a thin, hollow needle through the wall of the rectum into the prostate. Many patients prefer to have the area numbed with a local anesthetic prior to the procedure, which takes approximately 10 minutes.

Treatment

At the forefront of prostate cancer treatment, Torrance Memorial’s specialists offer advanced, personalized treatment for each patient. Depending on the stage, treatment for prostate cancer may include a single therapy or some combination of surgery, radiation therapy and hormone therapy. This may include: