Prostate-specific antigen

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death amongst men in the United States. One in six men is estimated to be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their lives. Similar trends are found worldwide to mirror those of the United States. However, the progression of prostate cancer is typically slow and does not metastasize all that often. Due to this, treatments can typically be life saving and prostate cancer deaths have declined ~35% from 1997 to 2007. This can partially be explained by lifestyle changes, hormone therapy, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgical treatment; however, large scale screening using prostate specific antigen (PSA) has to account for a substantial impact on the incidence and mortality rates for prostate cancer.…

In life, we will sooner or later be thrown a curveball. Some of us will miss by a mile, some of us will miss just barely, and some of us will get a hit. There is one commonality: unexpected circumstances remind us to expect the unexpected out of life. Typically, a rising PSA is the first sign, coming well before any clinical signs or symptoms. In my mind, however, undergoing a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) check was about as bad as anything I could imagine. That PSA anxiety hammers away at…

of treatment. Compare this to the 84% efficacy of first-round treatment of C. difficile through antibiotic treatment and the 40% efficacy of antibiotic treatment after multiple relapses. Secondly, personalized culture collections are communities of microbes that can be selected from cultures based on specific criteria. These molded cultures can be inserted into…

through the inguinal canal into the scrotum. This forms the spermatic cord between the testes and abdominal wall. This cord contains the testicular artery, vein, lymphatic vessel, nerve, and the ductus deferens and is composed of smooth muscle. An inguinal hernia occurs when the intestine protrude through the inguinal canal. The scrotum is a pouch outside of the body, holding the testes. This provides an environment that is a few degrees cooler than the body to aid sperm production. There are…

The immune system is a host defense mechanism that involves a complex collection of molecules, cells, and tissue. The primary function of the immune system is responsible for recognizing and differentiating between harmful and none harmful microbes in the human body. When a human is resistant to a certain disease, that human is known to be immune. The term used to describe an immune individual is referred to as immunity. The primary function of immunity is to become resistant to certain…

heme and acquire the ability to recognize multiple antigens. It was originally thought that all antibodies bonded to their individual antigens in a lock and key sort of function. However, several similar studies, such as the experiment performed by Bayry et al, have led to a much different consensus. It has now been determined that many antibody molecules are capable of changing its conformation to allow for its flexible antigen-binding pocket to accommodate several different antigens to…

The structures, antigen binding, and abilities to activate complement are important aspects to understand different drugs relating to autoimmune diseases. Each of the four drugs, infliximab, Adalimumab, Etanercept, and Certilizumab, have different antibody structures, leading to differences in function and binding abilities. The drug infliximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody, containing 25% mouse-derived and 75% human-derived amino acids. The drug Adalimumab is a fully human monoclonal…

The Prostate Gland: An Overview: Anatomy: The prostate gland is shaped as an inverted cone in which the apex is pointing downward, the base is referring upward, and the midgland is sandwiched in between. In an antro-posterior view, the gland lies with its long axis parallel to the anterior rectal wall. It is bordered superiorly by the bladder (ventrally) and the seminal vesicles (dorsally), and inferiorly by the urogenital diaphragm (Jung and Westphalen, 2012). The prostate is separated from…

S. has a bacterial infection noted to the prostate. This may be secondary to risk factors like, unprotected sexual intercourse, urinary tract infections or other structural issues like benign prostate hyperplasia which often leads to urinary stasis and retention and is represented by fever, rectal and back pain and tenderness of the prostate (Yoon et al., 2012). Mrs. S.’s symptoms of fever, dysuria, and a tender and boggy prostate are representative of acute prostatitis (Dickson, 2013). The…

As you age, the size of the prostate changes; during puberty the prostate grows rapidly due to the rise in male hormones, such as dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and testosterone. (“American Cancer Society”, 2015) With it the average size of a walnut, the prostate gland is located between the bladder and the penis, and is part of the male reproductive system. The prostate secretes fluids that nourishes and protects the sperm. Additionally, there are three main diseases associated with the prostate,…