GC: n
S: ACS – https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/prostate-cancer/about/what-is-prostate-cancer.html (last access: 2 January 2025); NCI – https://www.cancer.gov/types/prostate (last access: 2 January 2025).
N: 1. – prostate (n): “the prostate gland,” 1640s, from French prostate, from Medieval Latin prostata “the prostate,” from Greek prostatēs (adēn) “prostate (gland),” from prostatēs “leader, ruler, guardian; one standing in front,” from proistanai “set before,” from pro “before” (from PIE root *per- (1) “forward,” hence “in front of, before”) + histanai “cause to stand,” from PIE root *sta- “to stand, make or be firm.” So called from its position at the base of the bladder and immediately in front of its mouth. Related: Prostatic.
– cancer (n): Old English cancer “spreading sore, cancer” (also canceradl), from Latin cancer “a crab,” later, “malignant tumor,” from Greek karkinos, which, like the Modern English word, has three meanings: crab, tumor, and the zodiac constellation (late Old English), from PIE root qarq- “to be hard” (like the shell of a crab); cognates: Sanskrit karkatah “crab,” karkarah “hard;” and perhaps cognate with PIE root qar-tu- “hard, strong,” source of English hard.
Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen, among others, noted similarity of crabs to some tumors with swollen veins. Meaning “person born under the zodiac sign of Cancer” is from 1894. The sun being in Cancer at the summer solstice, the constellation had association in Latin writers with the south and with summer heat. Cancer stick “cigarette” is from 1959.
2. Disease characterized by uncontrolled growth of cells within the prostate gland, a walnut-sized organ surrounding the urethra just below the bladder in males.
3. Prostate cancer is a frequently diagnosed cancer among males, particularly among those who are older (the disease is rare in men below the age of 40–45) and who live in well-developed regions of the world. In the United States, for example, 13 out of every 100 men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime. The disease is more common in African American men than it is in Caucasians. Prostate cancer should not be confused with benign prostate hyperplasia, which has similar symptoms and occurs often in older men but is not a type of cancer.
4. The prostate is below the bladder (the hollow organ where urine is stored) and in front of the rectum (the last part of the intestines). Just behind the prostate are glands called seminal vesicles, which make most of the fluid for semen. The urethra, which is the tube that carries urine and semen out of the body through the penis, goes through the center of the prostate.
The prostate tends to grow as a man ages. In younger men, it is about the size of a walnut, but it can be much larger in older men.
5. Most often, prostatic cancers are slow-growing, small-cell adenocarcinomas which may rapidly penetrate the capsule of the prostate and metastasize to nearby tissues, including bones. Cancer of the prostate in elderly men may provoke no symptoms other than occasional difficulty in micturition. Sometimes the first indication of the presence of this cancer is backache, which is caused by metastases of the prostatic cancer throughout the bones of the pelvis and vertebral column.
6. Cultural Interrelation: We can mention, among others, the film Venus (2006) by Roger Michell (1956-2021).
S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=prostate; http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=cervical+cance (last access: 8 January 2025). 2 & 3. EncBrit – https://www.britannica.com/science/prostate-cancer (last access: 2 January 2025). 4. ACS – https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/prostate-cancer/about/what-is-prostate-cancer.html (last access: 2 January 2025). 5. GDT – https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/fiche-gdt/fiche/17485064/cancer-de-la-prostate (last access: 9 January 2025). 6. IMDb – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489327/ (last access: 9 January 2025).
SYN: 1. prostatic cancer, cancer of the prostate. 2. carcinoma of the prostate. (depending on context)
S: 1. GDT – https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/fiche-gdt/fiche/17485064/cancer-de-la-prostate (last access: 9 January 2025); TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=cancer+de+prostate&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 9 January 2025). 2. GDT – https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/fiche-gdt/fiche/17485064/cancer-de-la-prostate (last access: 9 January 2025).
CR: prostate-specific antigen, cancer, prostate, tumor.
