LiveWorld Transcripts

Houston Chronicle presents

Dr. Brian Miles
"Ask the Doctor": Prostate Cancer

March 27, 2000

The Houston Chronicle presents "Ask the Doctor" with Dr. Brian Miles discussing health issues involving the prostate, prostate cancer, the urinary system and rectal examinations.

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HoustonChronicle: The purpose of the Ask The Doctor chats are to provide general information and is in no way intended to be construed as medical advice for any visitors' specific disease or condition. The intent is to increase a participant's knowledge about a general disease or condition. For treatment of your specific condition, please see your personal physician. This forum is not intended to be used in emergency situations. If you are uncertain of the urgency of your problem or condition, contact your personal physician or the nearest hospital for assistance. Welcome to Ask The Doctor! HoustonChronicle.com, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital-Houston, and the Talk City Network are pleased to present our special guest for today, Dr. Brian Miles of St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital. Dr. Miles will be discussing prostate cancer, a major medical concern. How are you, Dr. Miles?

Dr. Brian Miles: I'm well. How are you? I'm very pleased to be on the air and discussing this topic. It is my specialty and something my career is based around. Prostate cancer is, by far, the most common cancer affecting the American male and the second largest cause of death by cancer. As such, it touches the lives of many men, either personally, or through their family or friends. It also, therefore, is on the mind of almost all men once they start approaching the age of 50. And a moderate amount of confusion about what risk people are at, how we diagnose it, and how we treat it, exists. Hopefully, today, I will be able to clarify some of these confusions or questions through this discussion, and I look forward to working with each and every one of the people who are online.

Melinda: What and where is the prostate?

Dr. Brian Miles: Great question. Not surprisingly, many people do not know what it is, and where it is. The prostate is an accessory sex gland, and it's located just below the bladder, between the bladder and the penis. So when men urinate, they urinate through the prostate, also, because it's an integral part of the urinary system from the bladder to the tip of the penis. And of course, this makes sense, because when men ejaculate, their ejaculate comes through the end of the penis, so the prostate would have to be somewhere along this canal. What the prostate does is it contributes the bulk of volume to the ejaculate men have when they have an orgasm. The prosthetic fluid contains nutrients and the medium that carries the sperm to the cervix. So its total purpose is to generate the fluid that allows sperm to swim toward the ova for conception.

Mirabell: What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?

Dr. Brian Miles: Generally, there are no symptoms. The symptoms that the American Cancer Society describes when talking about prostate cancer are actually those that are more associated with benign growth of the prostate, a condition that occurs in almost all men as we age. Those symptoms are a slowing of the urinary stream, increase in urinary frequency, difficulty emptying the bladder, straining to void, urgency, that is a rapid need to urinate, etc. These symptoms can occur with prostate cancer, but generally do not. If they occur, it is usually because the men have a combination of benign growth and prostate cancer. We most commonly detect prostate cancer, now, through a blood test, prostate specific antigen, or more commonly, PSA.

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