Urological tumors are a group of cancers that affect people of all ages, particularly men. The most common ones include:
Rarer forms of cancers include:
Fortunately, over 70% of urological cancer are discovered in the early stages of the disease. Early detection is key to curing cancers.
At King’s we are able to screen, diagnose and provide treatment plans for various urological cancers. An overview of each of the cancers mentioned above is explained below:
Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer that affects men worldwide. This type of cancer has a slow growth pattern and might not cause any signs and symptoms in the early stages of the disease. Digital rectal exam and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) have become the main two methods for screening to discover prostate cancer in the early stages of the disease in men in their 40-50s.
Bladder cancer is the second most common type of cancer, after prostate cancer, which develops in the urothelial cells of the bladder. There are some risk factors like smoking that are strongly related to this type of cancer. Signs and symptoms of bladder cancer are very unspecific; however, the majority of cases are discovered at an early stage of the disease and are treated, but even in the early stages of the disease, bladder cancer is a very recurrent type of cancer which needs constant follow-ups.
Testicular cancer is a more rare type of cancer relative to others, but is the most common type of urological cancer among young men. Even though most signs and symptoms related to testicular cancer might be unspecific, this type of cancer is diagnosed in early stages of the disease most of the time and has a very high curation rate -over 90%-, even when cancer has spread beyond the testicle. Although, the treatment options might be very different depending on the type of testicular cancer and the stage of the disease when discovered.
The rates of diagnosis of kidney cancer has been increasing over recent years, most likely the the major use of imagining technology has contributed. As with other types of urological cancers, kidney cancer is related to various risk factors like smoking and certain chemical exposures. The treatment for kidney cancer will depend on the stage of the disease. It’s worth noting that with this type of cancer, even if properly treated, the chance of metastasis (secondary growths) is higher relative to other forms of urological cancer.
Penile cancer is a very rare type of tumor that affects the skin cells of the penis. This type of cancer usually affects men over their 50s and there are some risk factors like HPV infection that are strongly related whit this type of cancer. Since the location of the tumor is very visible, penile cancer can be diagnosed in the early stages of the disease and treated accordingly.
Huge advances have been made over the last decades related to the treatment of urological cancers, which has had an impact on the survival rate of patients and their quality of life.
As with other cancers, regular screening and early detection provide the best opportunity for positive outcomes. At King’s we place special emphahsise on preventative medicine and have created several screening packages to detect early signs of prostate cancer.
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