Editing Prostate cancer (section)

== History ==
[[File:Charles_Brenton_Huggins_nobel.jpg|thumb|Charles Huggins|alt=Huggins' headshot]]

A prostate mass was first described in 1817 by the English surgeon [[George Langstaff]], following the autopsy of a man who had died at age 68 with lower-body pain and urinary issues.{{sfn|Valier|2016|pp=15–18}}<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Lawrence W |title=Cases of Fungus Hæmatodes, with Observations, by George Langstaff, Esq. and an Appendix, Containing two Cases of Analogous Affections |journal=Med Chir Trans |volume=8 |issue= |pages=272–314 |date=1817 |pmid=20895322 |pmc=2129005 |doi=10.1177/095952871700800114 }}</ref> In 1853, [[London Hospital]] surgeon John Adams described another prostate tumor from a man who had died with urinary issues; Adams had a pathologist examine the tumor, providing the first confirmed case of a cancerous tumor in the prostate.{{sfn|Valier|2016|pp=15–18}}<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Adams J | title = The Case of Scirrhous of the Prostate Gland with Corresponding Affliction of the Lymphatic Glands in the Lumbar Region and in the Pelvis | journal = Lancet | volume = 1 | issue = 1547 | pages = 393–94 | year = 1853 | doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(02)68759-8 }}</ref> The disease was initially rarely described; an 1893 report found only 50 cases described in the medical literature.{{sfn|Lytton|2001|p=1859}} Around the turn of the 19th century, prostate surgery to relieve urinary obstruction became more common, allowing surgeons and pathologists to examine the removed prostate tissue. Two studies around the time found cancer in as many as 10% of surgical specimens, suggesting prostate cancer was a fairly common cause of prostate enlargement.{{sfn|Lytton|2001|p=1859}}

For much of the 20th century, the primary therapy for prostate cancer was surgery to remove the prostate. Perineal prostatectomy was first performed in 1904 by [[Hugh H. Young]] at [[Johns Hopkins Hospital]].{{sfn|Denmeade|Isaacs|2002|loc="Prostatectomy"}}<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Young HH | title = Four Cases of Radical Prostatectomy | journal = Johns Hopkins Bull. | volume = 16 | year = 1905 }}</ref> Young's method became the widespread standard, initially done primarily to relieve symptoms of urinary blockage.{{sfn|Denmeade|Isaacs|2002|loc="Prostatectomy"}} In 1931 a new surgical method, [[transurethral resection of the prostate]], became available, replacing perineal prostatectomy for symptomatic relief of obstruction.{{sfn|Lytton|2001|p=1859}} In 1945, [[Terence Millin]] described a retropubic prostatectomy approach, which provided easier access to pelvic lymph nodes to assist in staging the extent of disease, and was easier for surgeons to learn.{{sfn|Denmeade|Isaacs|2002|loc="Prostatectomy"}} This was improved upon by [[Patrick C. Walsh]]'s 1983 description of a retropubic prostatectomy approach that avoided damage to the nerves near the prostate, preserving erectile function.{{sfn|Denmeade|Isaacs|2002|loc="Prostatectomy"}}<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Walsh PC, Lepor H, Eggleston JC | title = Radical Prostatectomy with Preservation of Sexual Function: Anatomical and Pathological Considerations | journal = The Prostate | volume = 4 | issue = 5 | pages = 473–485 | year = 1983 | pmid = 6889192 | doi = 10.1002/pros.2990040506 | s2cid = 30740301 }}</ref>

Radiation therapy for prostate cancer was used occasionally in the early 20th century, with [[radium]] implanted into the [[urethra]] or rectum to reduce the tumor size and associated symptoms.{{sfn|Denmeade|Isaacs|2002|loc="Radiation therapy"}} In the 1950s the advent of more powerful radiation machines allowed for external beam radiotherapy to reach the prostate. By the 1960s, this was often combined with hormone therapy to improve the potency of therapy.{{sfn|Denmeade|Isaacs|2002|loc="Radiation therapy"}} In the 1970s, [[Willet Whitmore]] pioneered an open surgery technique where needles of [[Iodine-125]] were placed directly into the prostate. This was improved upon by Henrik H. Holm in 1983 by using transrectal ultrasound to guide the implantation of radioactive material.{{sfn|Denmeade|Isaacs|2002|loc="Radiation therapy"}}

The observation that the testicles (and the hormones they secrete) influence prostate size was made as early as the late 18th century via castration experiments in animals. However, occasional experimentation over the next century bore mixed results, likely due to the inability to separate prostate tumors from prostates enlarged due to benign prostatic hyperplasia. In 1941, [[Charles B. Huggins]] and [[Clarence V. Hodges]] published two studies using surgical castration or oral [[estrogen]] to reduce androgen levels and improve prostate cancer symptoms. Huggins was awarded the 1966 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this discovery, the first systemic therapy for prostate cancer.{{sfn|Denmeade|Isaacs|2002|loc="Androgen-ablation therapy"}}<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Huggins CB, Hodges CV | title = Studies on Prostate Cancer: 1. The Effects of Castration, of Estrogen and Androgen Injection on Serum Phosphatases in Metastatic Carcinoma of the Prostate | journal = Cancer Res | volume = 1 | issue = 4 | pages = 293 | year = 1941 | url = http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/1/4/293 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170630121943/http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/1/4/293 | archive-date = 30 June 2017 | access-date = 2 September 2015 }}</ref> In the 1960s, large studies showed estrogen therapy to be as effective as surgical castration at treating prostate cancer, but that those on estrogen therapy were at increased risk of suffering [[blood clot]]s.{{sfn|Denmeade|Isaacs|2002|loc="Androgen-ablation therapy"}} Through the 1980s, [[Andrzej W. Schally]]'s studies of GnRH led to the development of GnRH agonists, which were found to be as effective as estrogen without the increased risk of clotting.{{sfn|Denmeade|Isaacs|2002|loc="Androgen-ablation therapy"}}<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Tolis G, Ackman D, Stellos A, Mehta A, Labrie F, Fazekas AT, Comaru-Schally AM, Schally AV | title = Tumor Growth Inhibition in Patients with Prostatic Carcinoma Treated with Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone Agonists | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 79 | issue = 5 | pages = 1658–1662 | date = March 1982 | pmid = 6461861 | pmc = 346035 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.79.5.1658 | doi-access = free | title-link = doi | bibcode = 1982PNAS...79.1658T }}</ref> Schally was awarded the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on GnRH and prostate cancer.{{sfn|Denmeade|Isaacs|2002|loc="Androgen-ablation therapy"}}

Systemic chemotherapy for prostate cancer has been studied since the 1950s but clinical trials failed to show benefits in most people who receive the drugs.{{sfn|Denmeade|Isaacs|2002|loc="Cytotoxic chemotherapy"}} In 1996, the US [[Food and Drug Administration]] approved the systemic chemotherapy [[mitoxantrone]] for those with castration-resistant prostate cancer based on trials showing that it improved symptoms even though it failed to enhance survival.{{sfn|Desai|McManus|Sharifi|2021|loc="Evolution of treatment"}} In 2004, docetaxel was approved as the first chemotherapy to increase survival in those with castration-resistant prostate cancer.{{sfn|Desai|McManus|Sharifi|2021|loc="Evolution of treatment"}} After additional trials in 2015, docetaxel use was extended to those with castration-sensitive prostate cancer.{{sfn|Teo|Rathkopf|Kantoff|2019|loc="Figure 1"}}