‘Aggressiveness of prostate cancer is more likely to be related to a lifetime exposure of excessive alcohol rather than drinking patterns around the time of prostate cancer diagnosis’
"Our
results may explain why previous evidence linking alcohol intake and prostate
cancer has been somewhat mixed," noted Allott. "It's possible that
the effect of alcohol comes from a lifetime intake, or from intake earlier in
life rather than alcohol patterns around the time of diagnosis of prostate
cancer."
How is Prostate Cancer Graded?
Grading
system of prostate cancer is a
scoring
system done by looking at the prostate cancer cells under the microscope.
Grading is done
to assess the
aggressiveness of the tumor and can
predict
outcome. The most common grading system is the
Gleason grading system where the cancer is given scores from 1 to
5. One represents low grade and 5 -
high grade.
Since
prostate cancers may be composed of cells that may have varying appearances in
different parts of the same tumor, two grades (each out of a maximum score of
5) are assigned for all patients evaluated. The
primary grade describes the appearance of cells that make up the
biggest area of the tumor and a
secondary
grade describes the cells of the second largest area. The
sum of the two grades gives the Gleason
score -
- Scores of 6 or less indicate low grade
prostate cancer that are likely to grow slowly and have a better prognosis
- Score
of 7 is considered intermediate risk of cancer
- Scores
of 8 or more are considered high grade and likely to grow fast and spread
more quickly.
Limitations of Study
- Information
was mostly self-reported by the participants from recall and may be
influenced by memory of the participants
- Since
heavy drinkers are usually heavy smokers, heavy smoking may be a
confounding factor for the results even after due adjustments are made
- Those
who drank heavily early in life usually continued to drink heavily
throughout their entire life; thus it is difficult to clearly separate the
potential effects of early-life exposure of alcohol from cumulative
lifelong exposure
References :- H.R. Sadeghi-gandomani1, M.S.yousefi S. Rahimi, S.M. Yousefi, A. Karimi-rozveh, S. Hosseini, A. Mahabadi, H.F. Abarqui, N.N. Borujeni, H. Salehiniya., "THE INCIDENCE, RISK FACTORS, AND KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE PROSTATE CANCER THROUGH WORLDWIDE AND IRAN" World Cancer Research Journal (2017) 4(4): e972.
- Prostate Cancer Grading & Prognostic Scoring - (https://www.prostateconditions.org/about-prostate-conditions/prostate-cancer/newly-diagnosed/gleason-score)
Source: Medindia
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