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Is it known how you get prostate cancer?

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Posted 10/26/2012 10:53 PM (GMT 0)
Might be a ridiculous question but do you guys have any idea or hunches. Like, what do you believe cause you to have this type of cancer.

For example, my friend's dad died of lung cancer. He was a heavy smoker. So we added 1+1= 2. Smoking his whole life caused lung cancer.
Posted 10/26/2012 11:25 PM (GMT 0)
You just opened Pandora's Box.

Some will say genetics, some will say Stupid Diet, some will say something else. Everyone has an opinion, but there is no scientifically accepted standard cause as far as I know.

Batten down the hatches.

Posted 10/26/2012 11:28 PM (GMT 0)
Age is the leading cause of PC. If you get old enough you will get it.
Posted 10/26/2012 11:30 PM (GMT 0)
Stuff happens, mankind has been having cancer since there have been men, it's just been the last 100 years or so that we have a name to stick to it and the ability to see it inside our bodies before death. I personally think it is an affliction caused by being a man, some get it, some don't, biological roulette, you might say.

As they say, life is terminal.....
Posted 10/26/2012 11:39 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, I stand corrected by John T. in the sense that as you get older, the odds increase almost in line with age. But I took the question in the sense of significant, life-altering PCa. Most who have it at 80, 90 might not ever even know about it. At some point the side effects of treatment may be worse than the value of the treatment.
Posted 10/26/2012 11:40 PM (GMT 0)
Got to agree with John T. It is said that all men will get prostate cancer if they live long enough. Some may have to reach 150 but it is thought it is an inevitable part of the aging process. If you look at the complexity of any animal it is actually surprising that things don't go wrong with cell reproduction more often. Don't forget that a foetus in the womb can develop cancer ----- things just go wrong at times. Of course this does not mean that environmental issues cannot increase your chances. My own personal (in no way medical) opinion is that viruses have a far greater roll in disrupting our genetic blueprint than we have found thus far. But as James said life is inevitably fatal.
Bill
Posted 10/26/2012 11:44 PM (GMT 0)
Maybe from vegetables?

Ok I have no idea, listen to John T
Posted 10/26/2012 11:57 PM (GMT 0)
i got it at 40. There are many of us who do.

My doctor just told me that a genetic mutation I have is the cause of my cancer. So if he's right, in my case it's genetic and possible includes environmental contributions too. However, I couldn't have been fitter when I got it. I had spent years going to gym twice a day (lunch and evening) and played top level competitive soccer and was outrunning teenagers. Then I got cancer.
Posted 10/27/2012 12:05 AM (GMT 0)

davidg said...


However, I couldn't have been fitter when I got it. I had spent years going to gym twice a day (lunch and evening) and played top level competitive soccer and was outrunning teenagers. Then I got cancer.

Man, this is pissing me off reading this. You're doing great, keeping in shape and it just hits you like that.

Life is messed up sometimes, what nonsense.
Posted 10/27/2012 12:06 AM (GMT 0)
I think the correct answer is: No. From the doctors I have talked to in depth on the subject, there is no agreement on the cause of PC. I think JohnT's answer, light hearted, is also accurate, if you autopsied every man that died at age 100, I would be willing to be there would be 100% PC in every man's body.

While Lung Cancer and Smoking is a well known proven combination, they still can't explain why some lifetime heavy smokers never get it. My mother, still alive, has been chain smoking for over 69 years, she is 85, yet she still has good lungs and no serious breathing problems. My father died of a smoking related cancer at age 65. I think that is where genetics may come into the picture.

David
Posted 10/27/2012 12:33 AM (GMT 0)

Raddad said...
Maybe from vegetables?

Ok I have no idea, listen to John T

Just what I was thinking - maybe from broccoli...
oh wait, I don't eat broccoli and I got PC.
Darn another theory shot down.

Okay - John T has my vote for today.

Andrew
Posted 10/27/2012 12:45 AM (GMT 0)
I was once told that hereditary loaded the gun and the environment pulled the trigger.

-------------

DavidG,

That is disturbing that as fit as you were you still got PC.  Just curious, how was your diet leading up to your diagnosis?

Posted 10/27/2012 12:58 AM (GMT 0)
Here is one of the earliest pioneers on SRC (sarcoma)=cancers and his findings, funny how for decades the medical folks were not ashured he was correct, then later give the Nobel Prize. Peyton Rous, hale to the men whom make a significant difference to mankind.


http://centennial.rucares.org/index.php?page=Cancer
Posted 10/27/2012 2:09 AM (GMT 0)
And here is another twist. There is a skin cancer called Karposi's Sarcoma. Karposi's is caused by a virus, the human herpesvirus. Karposi's normally was previously only seen in middle aged Jewish men (and some Mediterranean men). Caucasians and other races were relatively free of the tumours, suggesting they carried a genetic immunity to the virus caused disease. That was till the advent of HIV and subsequently AIDS. Regardless of race, once a person acquired AIDS and the immune system was compromised, this immunity was lost and Karposi's is a common result among AIDS sufferers of all races (it can be brought under control and generally eliminated with treatment)
Bill
Posted 10/27/2012 2:26 AM (GMT 0)
We have a pattern here. I hate broccoli and I got it at 47.

If we cherrypick (well, broccoli-pick) our subjects correctly we can produce another paper of at least the quality of some of the actual papers I've read on this disease "proving" that not eating broccoli "causes" PCa.

Broccoli eaters, if you are among us, speak now and refute this travesty of science before I start writing it (which will be shortly after I get a big check from the Broccoli Growers of America.) smilewinkgrin

More seriously, Agent Orange exposure is supposed to be a factor for the guys who were in VN. And without any more ability to prove a darn thing than the broccoli, I was somewhat exposed to 2, 4, D (one of the components of AO) back in the 1970's - but it may also have nothing whatever to do with my PCa.

"Eat right, stay fit, die anyway" is true as far as it goes; fitness does improve the odds of living a bit longer - but the odds do include a meteor just happening to hit the particular spot in the gym you're exercising in, tomorrow.
Posted 10/27/2012 2:48 AM (GMT 0)

Jerry L. said...
I was once told that hereditary loaded the gun and the environment pulled the trigger.-------------

DavidG,

That is disturbing that as fit as you were you still got PC. Just curious, how was your diet leading up to your diagnosis?

Let's just say that Casey's dietary suggestions were mild compared to my dietary habits for those years when I was focused on being the best shape possible. I stopped consuming carbs, sugar, any desserts, red meat (yes I was miserable). But that wa sin my mid 30s, I suppose you could say my diet in my 20s wasn't anywhere near as good. I'm sure it's a combination of both for most people.
Posted 10/27/2012 3:14 AM (GMT 0)
I heard it was from having too much sex or was it not enough sex?

Zimac
Posted 10/27/2012 3:25 AM (GMT 0)
I frequently ate broccolli for years prior to being diagnosed.

I cursed it for years after my diagnosis.

Now I'm back to eating it again.

It's gotta have some health benefit, but for me, it sure wasn't for PCa.

Posted 10/27/2012 4:33 AM (GMT 0)
It is not known how you get prostate cancer but as one doctor stated the best way is ~ choose your parents well. However...

I have met men in their twenties ~ so if it's age that causes it ~ that didn't work.
I have met lifetime Vegans ~ so if it's meat that causes it that didn't work.
I have met some very fit ~ lifetime fit men with it ~ so it wasn't just exercise.
I have met men whom bragged their sex lives ~ so if it's related that didn't work.

The oldest recorded case of prostate cancer was a Scythian King from 700 BC ~ the era of the prophet Jeremiah. His bones ~ about consistent of a man 40 years old, were discovered with lesions that were positive for PAP.

The era does not matter.

I dunno, there are many things that cause cancer. There are many cancers that are destined to be present. In one statement I hear that every human has cancer. And from what allows it to progress is social-economic, genetic, and just plain luck.

So if you're truly asking what prevents prostate cancer?

Your guess is as good as mine...

Tony
Posted 10/27/2012 4:37 AM (GMT 0)
 My mother, still alive, has been chain smoking for over 69 years, she is 85, yet she still has good lungs and no serious breathing problems.

specious "argument" at best. occasionally someone will lie at the bottom of a swimming pool for five minutes and live but most die. 

smoking increases your chances at a variety of diseases including prostate cancer. 

getting back to the original question i don't think anyone knows why we get prostate cancer but there are ways to maximize your chances -- e.g., smoking.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/06/21/smoking.prostate.cancer/index.html

ed

 

Posted 10/27/2012 6:45 AM (GMT 0)

F8 said...
My mother, still alive, has been chain smoking for over 69 years, she is 85, yet she still has good lungs and no serious breathing problems.
specious "argument" at best. occasionally someone will lie at the bottom of a swimming pool for five minutes and live but most die.

smoking increases your chances at a variety of diseases including prostate cancer.

getting back to the original question i don't think anyone knows why we get prostate cancer but there are ways to maximize your chances -- e.g., smoking.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/06/21/smoking.prostate.cancer/index.html

ed

How odd. I don't know if you are aware of the very high incidence of smoking in Asia in direct contrast to the very low rate of prostate cancer. (that is not an endorsement of smoking)
In addition you have quoted a portion of what David said completely out of context, totally altering the meaning of his post.
Posted 10/27/2012 6:57 AM (GMT 0)
if they live to be 150 they'll all have prostate cancer.  there's an eye-roller for you cool . 

ed

 

Posted 10/27/2012 7:35 AM (GMT 0)
I liike broccoli. Dx at 48!
I'm a non smoker. (My father, who was a doctor, was always puzzled by the heavy smokers he knew as friends and patients who never had any trouble with their lungs)
What surprises me though are the people who I know who smoke whose parents died early and of lung cancer.
I drink very little alcohol. (The daughter of a friend I was chatting tio this week was amazed that I have not got drunk since I was under 20).
I always felt fit, but I don't think fit is the same as healthy, and I think that is the important thing. I do not think I have a very good immune system, as was always getting ill in my childhood, and that may have laid the foundation for things to go wrong later. (Between the ages of 8 and 10 I had measles, mumps, chickenpox, Rubella and meningitis!) If there is a cold going round I will catch it, and since the old PCa came along I get much sicker if I get a cold.

Gee just looked out the window here and sky is brown and it looks like it's about to snow!
Posted 10/27/2012 8:51 AM (GMT 0)
"Lung cancer in non-smokers is more common than many people realize. In fact, lung cancer in never-smokers is now considered the 6th most common cause of cancer deaths in the United States. .

Overall, 10-15% of lung cancers occur in non-smokers. (Another 50% occur in former smokers.)

Two-thirds of the non-smokers who get lung cancer are women, and 20% of lung cancers in women occur in individuals who have never smoked. This percentage is significantly higher in Asian women."

[rul]http://lungcancer.about.com/od/whatislungcancer/a/lungcancernonsmokers.htm
Posted 10/27/2012 9:34 AM (GMT 0)

F8 said...
if they live to be 150 they'll all have prostate cancer. there's an eye-roller for you [img]/community/emoticons/cool.gif[/img] .
ed

Obviously you cannot grasp the concept so I will explain it to you. Prostate cancer is an inevitable part of the aging process in men. The incidence of it rises exponentially with age. This exponential increase means it would affect 100% of men eventually if they lived long enough ---- however the majority die of other causes before the cancer afflicts them. Ergo, if men lived to be very, very old, all would have prostate cancer. It's like bloody wrinkles ---- everybody gets them eventually.
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