Prostate Cancer

What is Prostate Cancer?

Prostate cancer is a malignant tumor originating from the epithelial cells of the prostatic acini in males. It is the most common malignancy in the male genitourinary system and one of the malignant tumors with the heaviest disease burden worldwide.

Its major risk factors involve abnormalities in the androgen signaling pathway, genetic susceptibility, chronic inflammation, and the accumulation of gene mutations with advancing age. This tumor exhibits significant biological heterogeneity, manifesting either as a low-risk type with long-term slow growth or as a high-risk type with strong invasiveness, prone to bone metastasis and distant metastasis.

According to global epidemiological data, the incidence of prostate cancer ranks second among male malignant tumors (second only to lung cancer), and its mortality rate ranks fifth, making it a significant cause of cancer death in men.

In high-incidence regions such as Europe and the United States, due to the widespread implementation of PSA screening, the detection rate of early-stage prostate cancer has significantly increased. However, this is also accompanied by the risks of overdiagnosis and overtreatment.

In China and other Asian countries, with the aging population, changes in lifestyle, and the popularization of imaging examinations, the incidence of prostate cancer continues to rise rapidly. The proportion of intermediate-to-advanced and metastatic cases at the time of diagnosis remains high. It has become one of the most predominant malignant tumors in the genitourinary system in China, posing increasingly severe challenges to the public health system.

Clinically, early-stage prostate cancer often lacks specific symptoms. Diagnosis primarily relies on PSA testing, imaging examinations, and prostate needle biopsy. Given the significant differences in its biological behavior, the core of modern prostate cancer management has shifted towards risk stratification-based implementation of individualized diagnosis and precision treatment.