Men with prostrate cancer more susceptible to forming blood clots
A new recent study in the United Kingdom has discovered that men who are suffering from cancer of the prostrate are much more susceptible to forming blood clots. The same study found that men who have prostrate cancer have double the chances of having a thromboembolism in the bloodstream due to the cancer itself.
Kings college of London’s researchers in the United Kingdom discovered that the chances of suffering from a blood clot are greatest for men who have prostrate cancer and are receiving hormone treatments. Other studies have shown that all cancer patients suffer from an increase risk of 4 times that of non cancer patients in experiencing blood clots. The recent survey tested 76,00 men who were being treated for prostrate cancer between 1997 and 2007. These results were then compared to the general population of men without cancer.
Among the 76,000 men that the survey studied, 1,181 blood clot episodes where reported. The two main types of blood clots that were reported were those that occur in the legs and those that occur in the lungs. The study found that men with prostrate cancer were more than twice as likely to experience a blood clot then the general population of men without prostrate cancer. Men who were being treated for their prostrate cancer with hormone treatments were more than 4 times likely to have a blood clot than those who weren’t receiving any cancer treatments.
Well, we already know that treating prostate cancer dramatically worsens your life immediately and then does not prolong your life at all. In other words, it makes no sense whatsoever from the patient’s standpoint. So it’s nice to know that we can employ researchers to find out exactly why these men do not live longer. Now if only we could hire someone to research why so many men are being subjected to useless and destructive treatment, we might make some progress.
First, it would be wise to learn how to spell prostate before making comments about the ramifications of the disease. Jeff’s comments are very shortsighted. Prostate cancer has a host of implications for patients. The treatment options for prostate cancer in a healthy 50 year old man are remarkably different from the best care for a fragile 78 year old man. Since PSA (surely not the perfect marker for the disease) has emerged as a screening test for prostate cancer, the death rate has in fact decreased. Keep in mind that there is no one best treatment for prostate cancer, but treatment must be tailored to the individual based on the severity of the cancer, the health and life expectancy of the patient and the individual’s personal preference once all of the pertinent information has been gathered and discussed.