Two new researches have been presented on the health day which supported two different diagnosis of prostate cancer. One advocates that an uncomplicated urine test could be helpful in picking out 50 percent men suffering from prostate cancer while the other is in the favor of combining the risk factors for prostate cancer to envisage the tendency of emerging the disease.

Digital rectal exam and PSA (prostate-specific antigen) are the modern methods to diagnose prostate cancer but they are of low specificity. So, a large number of results of prostate biopsies are turned out negative. There must be a better technique of testing to find out the best way of treatment for the men with aggressive prostate cancer and proper monitoring for those who have local or inactive cancer.

Keeping in view this factor a team of researchers has developed a test that can spot particular fusions of genes related to prostate cancer and applied the test on men with prostate cancer. TMPRSS2 gene and ERG gene are involved in these gene fusions which can be identified from a simple test of urine.

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Top medical groups of doctors are now giving advice, on the usage of a drug, to the men who undergo screening for prostate cancer. Finasteride contracts the prostate and curtails testosterone hormone that assists the cancer to grow. It is generally sold for the cure of urinary problems in the consequences of enlarged prostates in men.

Finasteride can minimize the risk of prostate cancer in men who are screened frequently but it has not been usually suggested on prescription to prevent the prostate cancer. Moreover, due to some side effects it is not recommended to those who don’t want screening with PSA blood test for the disease. But the individual, who is more interested to be screened, which is not sure to save life, and he can afford the use of Finasteride, should consult his doctor to take the medicine.

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Prostate cancer diagnosis often raises feelings of fear in the patients, but these patients have a wide range of options to treat and tackle the disease, medical experts believe.

There are various options and life quality of a patient needs to be considered when opting for some procedure. The fact is that, a large number of doctors think that it is better if some prostate cancers are left untreated.

Dr. Durado Brooks, who is director of the American Cancer Society, says, “Many patients die with prostate cancer instead of dying of prostate cancer, and a considerable number of these people may shorten their life period if they suffer from some other health problems.”

A report from the American Cancer Society shows that patients with prostate cancer have a high survival rate and in general 99% of men found with the disease may survive almost five years.

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Scientists in the United States have been successful in developing a new vaccine that is expected to help in preventing the spreading of prostate cancer among the men who are at high risk. The experimental vaccine would be a basis for developing new treatments in near future, believe the scientists.

A “watchful waiting” is generally preferred by the physician across the world in case of men who indicating the increasing levels of specific antigens that are the blood markers for prostate. These men however, do not show any symptoms of prostate cancer. No specific treatment is prescribed for such type of probable patients until they show the verified symptoms of the prostate cancer.

Dr. Martin Kast, at the ‘University of Southern California’ in Los Angeles, and other co-researchers believe that the day is not far when such men, the probable prostate cancer patients, would also be vaccinated properly so that they will be safe from any future risks of the development of prostate cancer. Findings of this research study have been published in the journal “Cancer Research”.

Researchers have designed this experimental vaccine with an objective of igniting an immune system response. It will put the system against a particular protein, the ‘prostate stem cell antigen’. This protein is directly associated with the process of development of prostate cancer.

Experiments were conducted on mice. These mice were bred and made akin to develop the prostate cancer. Almost 50% of the mice with 8 week’s age and prostate cancer were given the vaccination and a booster vaccination after two weeks. Rests 50% of the mice were not given any vaccination though they had prostate cancer.

Researchers could observe that after a period of one year, the mice that got vaccination were still alive but the remaining one could not survive the prostate cancer. The vaccination caused the development of small tumors in the mice and these tumors did not advance further. Some tiny nodules of prostate cancer surrounded by the millions of immune system cells were also observed in these mice. “The vaccination turned the cancer into a chronic, manageable disease”, said Dr. Kast.

Scientists believe that the further research in this direction will definitely help in managing the prostate cancer problem in near future.