The 5 Most Common Forms of Cancer in Men

Cancer develops through lifestyle, environment, and heredity. So, identifying the signs of cancer at an early stage can save a person’s life. Here’s everything you need to know regarding the most common forms of cancer in men.

1. Lung Cancer

Lung cancer topped the list among other cancers. Caused by tobacco smoking. (Torre, 2016) 1 Lung cancer signs and symptoms are not known right away. There are different types of lung cancer that can show you when it is in progress. How can you tell that the symptoms progress? 2

Signs and Symptoms of Lung Cancer

  • Early signs: Not all people show the same signs. Includes cough (worse), chest pain, weight loss, feeling tired, and infections in the lungs that don’t go away.
  • Advanced cancer of the lungs symptoms: in this time, cancer may have reached the bones, brain, or liver. The person may feel bone pain, neck or arms may swell, skin color may turn yellow, and you can feel lumps on your neck.
  • Non-small cell lung cancer symptoms: This type grows slowly. Signs and symptoms include such as persistent coughing, hoarseness, and bone pain.
  • Small cell lung cancer: Symptoms are a lot worse in this type. The signs and symptoms include headaches and a lump on the neck.
  • Metastatic lung cancer: Cancer has spread in the entire body.

It is recommended that you ask your doctor if you have experienced any of these. Another disease might be the cause.

healthy old man exercising
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2. Pancreatic Cancer

The pancreas helps you digest the food that you eat. It helps maintain your blood sugar level too. The main risk factor in developing this cancer is tobacco smoking. Some risk factors are obesity, inflamed pancreas, and heredity.

Signs and Symptoms of Pancreatic Cancer

Signs and symptoms in the early stage are hard to detect. Yet, you must tell your doctor what you feel. In some cases, it could be caused by another disease. Here are the common symptom and signs

  • Yellow skin: The skin may look yellow, accompanied by itchy skin, greasy stools, and dark urine
  • Tummy pain or back pain
  • You don’t feel like eating, then your weight drops
  • Vomiting
  • Your liver will get bigger
  • Blood clots
  • Diabetes

Cancer Stages of Pancreatic Cancer

Doctors use stages to identify the progress of the disease. They use this as a guide for your treatment plan so you can have the best treatment depending on your case.

  • Stage 1: The location of the tumor is in the pancreas. The pancreas remains at 4 cm.
  • Stage 2: Cancer remains inside the pancreas but has spread in the nearby three lymph nodes or blood vessels. Its size is bigger than 4 cm.
  • Stage 3: Cancer has spread in 4 lymph nodes and the nearby blood vessels.
  • Stage 4: Metastatic. Cancer has spread, affecting other organs.

Researchers are doing their best to find a way to diagnose this cancer while it’s in its early stages.

Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer

These are some tests that could help your doctor check on the stage of cancer you are now.

  • Blood tests such as FBS (fasting blood sugar) to check your sugar levels.
  • Imaging tests such as CT scans, MRIs, or endoscopic ultrasounds.
  • Biopsy

Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer

  • Surgery
  • Chemotherapy
  • Radiation therapy
  • Target therapy: Medicines that help the chemotherapy target specific cells. This therapy is used in combination with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy as well.

3. Prostate Cancer

This cancer ranked second that affects men in the United States. 3 The prostate is a small gland in your body located right below the bladder and in front of your rectum. It helps with making semen for men. This is one of the ingredients that men need to make their women happy.

This cancer occurs when your gene mutates or changes. Here are some risk factors for developing the disease race such as Black American and heredity ( immediate family like son, father, or brother).

Signs and Symptoms of Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer doesn’t show symptoms in the early stages. The symptoms and signs that you might feel can be associated with other diseases. It is recommended that you see your doctor if you have noticed any of the following:

  • Trouble initiating urination
  • Slow, weak, or interrupted urination
  • Feeling to urinate often, at night in particular
  • Emptying the bladder is difficult
  • Blood in the semen or urine
  • Pain in the back, hip, chest, or pelvis that doesn’t go away
  • Painful urination
  • Getting an erection may be difficult

Laboratory Tests to Check for Prostate Cancer

Symptoms are not noticeable in the early stage. But, they can be determined through screening tests that you do every year or as recommended. This is your decision to undergo the screening tests. Ask your doctor about the possible benefits and risks along with taking these tests. These tests are:

  • Digital rectal exam: This test is done in a private room. Your doctor will insert a lubricated and gloved hand where your prostate is, in the rectum.
  • Prostate-specific antigen test (PSA): This is a blood test to measure your PSA.
  • Biopsy: A cell is taken from your prostate through surgery. The pathologist will check it out for any change from its normal form. They score this using a Gleason score from 2-10, which is two as the least and ten as aggressive. Aggressive means that cancer spreads so fast like a bullet train.
  • Bone scan: In the late stage, prostate cancer will spread to the bones. In your blood test, you will see a high calcium level. Your doctor will explain it to you.
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging: This helps your doctor determine if you need a biopsy or not. Also, to know if cancer has spread all over your body.

Stages of Prostate Cancer

Doctors use the TNM (Tumor, Node, Metastasis) system. This is developed by the American Joint Committee on Cancer. This is a system to know the stage of cancer. Here are the Prostate cancer stages that you need to know about.

Stage 1

  • Stage 1: Cancer cells found in 1 area of the prostate. No lymph nodes were detected. Gleason’s score is less than 6, and PSA’s is lower than 10.

Stage 2

  • Stage 2: cancer can be seen inside the prostate. This stage has three substages:
  • Stage 2A: Cancer can be found in 1 area, Gleason score of less than 6, PSA blood test is between 10 and 19
  • Stage 2B: Cancer is one or both sides, PSA 20 or lower, Gleason score is 7
  • Stage 2C: Cancer can be found on one side or two sides. PSA score is 20 or lower, Gleason score may be from 7-8

Stage 3

  • Stage 3: This time cancer has spread to the near blood vessels or tissues. This also has 3 stages.
  • Stage 3A: Cancer is either one or on two sides. Gleason’s score is higher than 8, PSA’s score is higher than 20.
  • Stage 3B: Cancer has spread to the outer tissues but not on lymph nodes. PSA can be any level, Gleason score is up to 8.
  • Stage 3C: This stage is like Stage 3B, but the growth of cancer is not outside the prostate; Gleason score is 9 to 10

Stage 4

  • Stage 4: Cancer has spread to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body. This has 2 subtypes.
  • Stage 4A: Cancer has spread to the lymph nodes but not the outer tissue.
  • Stage 4B: Cancer has spread all over the body.

Treatment for Prostate Cancer

  • Chemotherapy
  • Radiation therapy
  • Cryotherapy
  • Biological therapy
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4. Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal means cancer in the colon and the rectum. This is the fourth in rank of the most common cancer in the United States. If this cancer is detected at an early stage, the survival rate is higher. 4

Since that colon and rectum can be found right below your tummy. These are an important part of the body that absorbs water and food (colon) and passes out of your stools (rectum). So the main cause of this type of cancer is diet, smoking, and genes. You read that right!

Signs and Symptoms of Colorectal Cancer

Remember that not all symptoms that you feel are the same. It could be another disease. Talk to your doctor if you have noticed these:

  • You feel that you haven’t finished emptying your bowel
  • Constipation
  • Blood in the stool
  • Constipation or you may have diarrhea
  • Stomach pain
  • Weight loss that you can’t explain
  • Feeling tired most of the time
  • Change with the way you go
  • Nausea and vomiting

Screening Tests for Colorectal Cancer

As recommended, you may need to undergo a screening test once a year or every two years. There is a good side to having screened every year or a bad side. It is important that you check it out with your doctor before giving yourself a nudge. Here are the screening tests

  • Colonoscopy: This is an awesome way to detect whether there is unusual stuff inside your colon. You can find out if you have colon polyps with this.
  • Stool tests: You might think it’s yucky, but in this test, you can figure out how your body is doing. Give your poop a grand hurray for that.
  • Blood test: They can order this test to check for your blood protein levels
  • Biopsy
  • CT Scan
  • MRI
  • Chest Xray
  • Angiography
  • Ultrasound
  • Barium enema: Enema is a procedure to inject a liquid to check for the things inside your colon to see through an X-Ray

Stages of Colorectal Cancer

The system used for staging is the TNM (Tumor, nodes, metastasis) system. This was developed by the American Joint Committee on Cancer. These stages are classified as 0-4. There are subtypes to tell you more.

Stage 0

  • Stage 0: There are abnormal (not the usual cells that you see) present but not yet cancerous.

Stage 1

  • Stage 1: Cancer cells are inside your colon or rectum.

Stage 2

  • Stage 2A: Cancer cells are seen inside the colon and rectum
  • Stage 2B: Cancer cells are seen inside and outside your colon but hasn’t spread yet in other tissues
  • Stage 2C: Growth of cancer is now outside the color. It has spread in the nearby tissues but hasn’t spread in your lymph nodes and other organs.

Stage 3

  • Stage 3A: Cancer cells are all over your colon and have spread to one or 3 lymph nodes, or near the lymph nodes.
  • Stage 3B: Cancer is all over the colon. It is now found in the nearby organ and lymph nodes.
  • Stage 3C: Cancer has spread near the other organs. It is found in four to six lymph nodes.

Stage 4

  • Stage 4A: Cancer cells are now found in one of the faraway organs such as the liver, lungs, or far away lymph nodes.
  • Stage 4B: Cancer is now in more than one far away organ like the liver and lungs
  • Stage 4C: Cancer has now spread to the rest of the body.

Treatment for Colorectal Cancer

  • Surgery
  • Radiation therapy
  • Immunotherapy
  • Targeted therapy

5. Bladder Cancer

Alright! Bladder cancer is the sixth most common cancer that is more popular with men than women. This develops around adults that are older than 55 years old, said the ACS (American Cancer Society).

The bladder is the organ in the body that is responsible for collecting urine from the kidneys. The cause of bladder cancer is the abnormal ( not normal) growth of cells in the bladder. They multiply with no control. The growth is caused by your genetic mutation. You won’t become the mutated Ninja Turtles that are best in Kung Fu, relax! Some risk factors are heredity, smoking, and long-term use of catheters.

Diagnosis for Bladder Cancer

These are types of tests that can help your doctor tell you about cancer. This is one of the bases for your treatment plan.

  • Rectal exam
  • Cystoscopy
  • Imaging tests such as Xray, ultrasound, MRI
  • Biopsy
  • Lab tests such as genomic tests and urine test
  • Bone scan: to check if cancer has spread to your bones.

Stages for Bladder Cancer

  • Stage 0: Cancer is in the bladder but hasn’t spread to the other organs
  • Stage 1: The cancer is inside the bladder but not spread on the nearby lymph nodes
  • Stage 2: Cancer has grown in the muscles of your bladder but has not spread yet to the lymph nodes
  • Stage 3: Cancer has spread in the outside of the bladder. It is near your reproductive organs inside your pelvis
  • Stage 4: Cancer has spread to the pelvis and your abdomen or at least one far organ.
man standing in stone in front of the nature
Julian Jagtenberg / Stocksbap

Conclusion

The best way to get one step ahead of dealing with cancer is to live a healthy life. Furthermore, when you say healthy, that means you should get enough sleep, eat fresh food, and live life to the fullest. Get up and see the world. Avoid stress. Make the best of your life. Lastly, you need to work but have fun with your loved ones and make each minute count. Have a happy life!

References:
1 What are the early signs and symptoms of lung cancer? Cancer Treatment Centers of America. (2021, October 27). Retrieved January 8, 2022
2 Lynne Eldridge, M. D. (2020, July 17). Signs and symptoms of lung cancer are more common in males. Verywell Health. Retrieved January 8, 2022
3 Prostate cancer diagnosis & testing. Cancer Treatment Centers of America. (2021, September 21). Retrieved January 8, 2022
4 Bladder cancer: Causes, symptoms & treatments. Cancer Treatment Centers of America. (2021, December 14). Retrieved January 8, 2022