OJ Simpson, the high-profile footballer accused of murdering his wife in the 1990s, has died aged 76 after a short battle with prostate cancer.
The disgraced football star announced he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer just two months ago, suggesting the cancer was in its late stages.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men, after skin cancer.
Experts estimate that this year 300,000 American men will be affected and more than 35,000 people will die, most of whom are over 65 years old. The American Cancer Society (ACS) says the rates are increasing by about three percent every year.
In addition, health care providers warn that the disease can be difficult to recognize because it often does not cause symptoms initially. The symptoms generally mirror those of an enlarged prostate, which tends to affect older men.
This can cause it to spread quickly to the bones and organs such as the lymph nodes, lungs, liver and brain.
OJ Simpson was announced to have been diagnosed with prostate cancer just two months ago, suggesting his cancer was in its late stages
The retired footballer was infamously tried in 1995 for the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. He was eventually acquitted
Read on for everything you need to know about prostate cancer:
What is prostate cancer?
Prostate cancer develops from cancer cells in the prostate, a walnut-sized organ that only occurs in men.
Located between the base of the penis and the rectum, the prostate produces fluid that mixes with semen to help it travel and survive.
The urethra, the tube that carries urine and semen out of the body through the penis, runs through the center of the prostate.
According to the ACS, almost all prostate cancers are adenocarcinomas, which arise from mucus-producing glands in the body.
In prostate cancer, these arise from cells that make prostate fluid that is added to semen.
What causes prostate cancer?
Doctors aren’t entirely sure what causes prostate cancer, although they have identified some risk factors.
Older men are the most likely group to develop the condition. The ACS estimates that 60 percent of prostate cancers occur in men over age 65.
However, many in this group may also experience symptoms due to prostate enlargement rather than prostate cancer.
An enlarged prostate, which has affected famous men like King Charles III, typically affects patients over the age of 50. More than 90 percent of cases occur in men over 80 years of age.
Doctors suspect this is due to changes in hormones as men age.
African American men are at greater risk of developing the cancer, having the cancer spread, and being diagnosed before age 50.
In some cases, genetics may be to blame. For example, mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have been associated with an increased risk of prostate, respiratory, ovarian and pancreatic cancer, among others.
Other risk factors include smoking, obesity, sexually transmitted diseases, genetics and exposure to Agent Orange, a chemical used during the Vietnam War.
What is the prognosis, and how did OJ decline so quickly?
Although prostate cancer is common, the disease generally responds well to treatment if caught early.
Cases confined to the prostate and surrounding organs have a 99 percent survival rate, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
However, because prostate cancer often causes no symptoms at first, it can be difficult to identify it before it spreads.
In the later stages, the survival rate drops to 34 percent.
OJ’s death, just two months after the illness was announced, suggests he could have been diagnosed at a later stage. This means it would have spread beyond the prostate and surrounding tissues and traveled to the bones.
When cancer spreads to the bones, it usually affects the bone around the spine, but also the pelvis, bones in the thigh, ribs and skull.
How is prostate cancer treated?
There are various treatments for prostate cancer.
One of these is a prostatectomy, a minimally invasive operation in which all or part of the prostate gland is removed to rid the body of cancer. There are two minimally invasive prostatectomy procedures: laparoscopic surgery and robot-assisted surgery.
These procedures involve making several small incisions that doctors use to insert surgical instruments and a camera to view the surgical field.
In a laparoscopic procedure, doctors use a tool with a long handle while viewing magnified images from a camera on a video screen.
In robot-assisted prostate surgery, doctors use a specialized robotic system to make small incisions in the patient’s abdomen, allowing surgeons to access the prostate.
What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?
Prostate cancer is one of the most common forms of the disease, affecting 300,000 American men every year. It is most common in people over 50 and black men
Prostate cancer usually does not cause any symptoms in the early stages.
However, ACS states that early warning signs also include problems with urination. This may include needing to urinate more often, especially at night, or having a slow or weak urine flow.
It may also be difficult to start urinating or men may feel like their bladder has not been completely emptied.
You may also find yourself running to the bathroom with an increased urge to urinate.
As the disease progresses, people may experience pain during urination, loss of bladder and bowel control, painful ejaculation, and erectile dysfunction.
In addition, patients may experience pain in their testicles.
More advanced prostate cancer can also lead to blood in the urine or semen.
How common is prostate cancer and why are the numbers rising?
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men after skin cancer.
The ACS estimates that one in eight men will develop prostate cancer during their lifetime.
Also according to the ACS, there will be approximately 300,000 new cases of prostate cancer this year, along with 35,250 deaths.
While the number of cases fell between 2007 and 2014 due to updated guidelines that reduced the number of men screened, the incidence has increased by about three percent per year since 2014, the ACS estimates.
And the increase for advanced prostate cancer is up five percent.
In a report from the ACS journal Cancer Statistics, researchers wrote, “The increasing percentage of men with advanced prostate cancer, which is much more difficult to treat and often incurable, is deeply disheartening.”
‘To end cancer as we know it for all, it is imperative that we focus on cancers where trends in incidence and mortality are moving in the wrong direction.’
Experts have attributed the rise to a growing population of older men, among whom the condition is most common.
They have also suggested that this may be due to recent recommendations against prostate cancer screening.
In 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) US Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued guidelines stating that men over 70 ‘should not be routinely screened for prostate cancer’ if they are at average risk and that too doing. have no symptoms.
The agency also said that men between the ages of 55 and 69 should “make individual decisions about prostate cancer screening.”