Resumo

PEREZ PEREZ, Roidel; FAJARDO PEREZ, Mario  e  ORLANDI GONZALEZ, Nivaldo. El cáncer de próstata: un desafío constante para el Médico de Familia. Rev Cubana Med Gen Integr [online]. 2002, vol.18, n.5, pp.343-348. ISSN 0864-2125.

Prostatic cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in men. Its frequecy increases with age, so physicians should have a high index of suspicion if they want to diagnose it early. Taking into account the importance of the problem, it was decided to make a bibliographic review on this topic. To this end, we searched in Fisterra, Doyma, Infomed, Internet and Medline, as well as in different monographies and books dealing with this subject. The most significant risk factors , the preventive drugs used at present to decrease its incidence, the most frequent symptoms, the complementary tests used for its diagnosis and follow-up, the therapeutic modalities applied, as well as the side effects that should be considered, are given in detail. It was concluded that it is a common tumor and that there are risk factors, symptoms and diagnostic procedures that may give us a warning of its presence, and that there are also means to attain the cure and better survival of these patients.

Palavras-chave : PROSTATIC NEOPLASMS [diagnosis]; PROSTATIC NEOPLASMS [therapy]; PROSTATIC NEOPLASMS [prevention & control]; RISK FACTORS; PHYSICIANS, FAMILY; PRIMARY HEALTH CARE.