Prostate Diseases—Benign Tumors

Also called: Benign cancer, Benign neoplasms, Noncancerous tumors

Tumors are abnormal growths in your body. They can be either benign or malignant. Benign tumors aren’t cancer. Malignant ones are. Benign tumors grow only in one place. They cannot spread or invade other parts of your body. Even so, they can be dangerous if they press on vital organs, such as your brain.

Tumors are made up of extra cells. Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as your body needs them. When cells grow old, they die, and new cells take their place. Sometimes, this process goes wrong. New cells form when your body does not need them, and old cells do not die when they should. These extra cells can divide without stopping and may form tumor.

Treatment often involves surgery. Benign tumors usually don’t grow back.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

• Biopsy – polyps (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Cherry angioma (Medical Encyclopedia)

The prostate is a gland in men. It helps make semen, the fluid that contains sperm. The prostate surrounds the tube that carries urine away from the bladder and out of the body. A young man’s prostate is about the size of a walnut. It slowly grows larger with age. If it gets too large, it can cause problems. This is very common after age 50. The older men get, the more likely they are to have prostate trouble.

Some common problems are

• Prostatitis – inflammation, usually caused by bacteria
• Enlarged prostate (BPH), or benign prostatic hyperplasia – a common problem in older men which may cause dribbling after urination or a need to go often, especially at night
• Prostate cancer – a common cancer that responds best to treatment when detected early

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

• Digital rectal exam (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Prostatitis – acute (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Prostatitis – nonbacterial (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Prostatitis-bacterial – self-care (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Urinary Retention – NIH (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)