Cure For Stage Four Prostate Cancer ‘Relatively Small,’ Doctors Say - East Idaho News

Cure For Stage Four Prostate Cancer ‘Relatively Small,’ Doctors Say

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Getty 041612 RyanONeal?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1334598911864David Livingston/Getty Images(NEW YORK) —  Late last week, actor Ryan O’Neal told People magazine that he’s been diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer, but because it was detected early, his doctors believe the “prognosis is positive for a full recovery.”

Doctors told ABC News that doesn’t compute.

“It’s peculiar, stage four is not early,” said Dr. Herbert Lepor, a urology professor at the NYU School of Medicine. “Let’s say this is metastatic prostate cancer. That is a fatal disease.”

“Stage four prostate cancer is normally very advanced,” said Dr. Leonard Gomella, a professor of prostate cancer at Thomas Jefferson University. “It likely means it has spread to his lymph nodes, his bones, other parts of his bodies. He’s going to have systemic therapy. The chance for a cure is relatively small.”

Lepor said O’Neal’s doctors are likely treating him with hormones, which means that they won’t necessarily rid his body of cancer. “To think that you’re getting a full recovery,” he said, “that’s not the case.”

Lepor said it’s possible that O’Neal wasn’t getting regular prostate screenings, which would account for discovering the cancer at the stage four level. In his statement to People, O’Neal advised fans to get regular checkups, “as early detection is the best defense against this horrible disease that has afflicted so many.”

According to the Center for Disease Control, prostate cancer is the most common cancer found in men, claiming over 20,000 lives in 2010.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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