Stage IV Prostate Cancer Life Expectancy and Prognosis

Life expectancy for a stage IV prostate cancer patient is often not very encouraging because not only is the cancer believed to NOT be curable at that stage, it has also been found to be particularly resistant to treatments.

Patients diagnosed with early sage prostate cancer can undergo a radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy to save their lives, but a patient in whom the tumor has had the chance to progress to stage IV of the disease can hardly be saved by either. Radiotherapy may be used as a pain relief alternative to certain medications (or as a compliment), but not as an effective treatment. Therefore life expectancy cannot be good.

In stage four prostate cancer the disease is well out of the prostate gland and is certain to have metastasized to various regions and locations all over the body. Certainly the lymphatic system would be compromised and the lymph nodes would likely be swollen, but the patient will also be experiencing a lot of bone pain by now, especially as a result of bone metastasis of the disease.

In order to effectively determine the extent of disease invasion, treat the condition, and provide a reasonable diagnosis, several tests have to be carried out by the specialist in addition to the initial screening tests - DRE, PSA, and biopsy - that were done. These new tests include an MRI scan, a CT scan, and a ribonucleic bone scan. Piecing all the information together, the urologist or oncologist would be able to provide the needed projection on how long the patient might survive.

Life expectancy for a man with advanced stage prostate cancer is rarely more than five years. As a matter of fact, most cancer specialists offer only three initially, and extend it by two if the patient is still alive by then. Gradually, if the patient continues to live, they continue to add some extra time, figuring that if something is keeping him alive all this time, it might just continue to. Some patients have been known to make it as far as eight years, though, with reasonably good palliation, and a few even further.

Studies recently published have however suggested that if a patient were to undergo a prostatectomy in advanced stage prostate cancer, his life expectancy could be doubled or even tripled, pushing life for such an unlikely patient to a figure as far out as 14 or 15 years. Naturally, news like this would cause a split right down in the middle of the medical community; and it did, with several doctors wondering if it was worthwhile to keep a patient on palliative care for that long, while others would give it if the patient wanted. When the final results of that one present themselves, time will tell.

1. Prognosis of Advanced Prostate Cancer and Life Expectancy
2. Stage Iv Prostate Cancer Life Expectancy
3. Life Expectancy for Advanced Prostate Cancer Patients
4. Advanced Prostate Cancer 2b Life Expectancy
5. Life Expectancy With Prostate Cancer – Are You In Doubt?
6. Last Stage Of Prostate Cancer As above – The Prognosis Of The Disease
7. Life Expectancy 2b Advanced Prostate Cancer
8. Want To Know What Prostate Cancer Life Expectancy Is?
9. Life Expectancy for Prostate Cancer
10. Stage IV Prostate Cancer 2b Prognosis
11. Prostate Cancer 2b Stage IV – Important Survival Tips
12. Treatment For End Stage Prostate Cancer That Can Save Your Life
13. Stage IV Prostate Cancer 2b Prognosis and Treatment
14. Prostrate Cancer Prognosis – Mortality Rate in Stage IV
15. Stage IV Prostate Cancer – Bone Metastasis Treatment and Prognosis