Know the symptoms of prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK and one man dies from the disease every hour in the UK.
Over 42,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year in the UK and it is estimated that by 2030, prostate cancer will be the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK.
1 in 8 men will get prostate cancer in the UK - and these numbers are likely to increase drastically over the next 5-10 years
1 in 4 black men will get prostate cancer in the UK – double the risk faced by all men in the UK
over 300,000 men are living with and after prostate cancer in the UK
Every year around 10,000 men will die from the disease
Symptoms often only become apparent when your prostate is large enough to affect the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the penis).
When this happens, you may notice things like an increased need to urinate, straining while urinating and a feeling your bladder has not fully emptied.
Prostate cancer is the a type of cancer that develops in men, forming in the prostate gland, a part of the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers grow slowly but some grow relatively fast. Prostate cancer cells may spread from the prostate to other parts of the body including the bones and lymph nodes.
Prostate cancer may show no symptoms initially, but in later stages may cause difficulty urinating, cause blood in the urine, or cause pain in the pelvis, or back, or when urinating.
As men get older their prostate gland often enlarges. This is usually not due to cancer. It is a condition called benign prostatic hyperplasia. Very early prostate cancer generally does not cause symptoms at all. Many prostate cancers start in the outer part of the prostate gland, away from the urethra. If a tumour is not large enough to put much pressure on the tube that carries urine out of the body (the urethra), you may not notice any effects from it. The symptoms of growths in the prostate are similar whether they are non cancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). The symptoms include:
Having to rush to the toilet to pass urine
Passing urine more often than usual, especially at night
Difficulty passing urine, including straining to pass it or stopping and starting
A sense of not being able to completely empty the bladder
Very rarely you might get:
Pain when passing urine
Blood in the urine or semen
These are more often a symptom of non cancerous prostate conditions.
Cancer of the prostate gland often grows slowly, especially in older men. Symptoms may be mild and occur over many years. Sometimes the first symptoms are from prostate cancer which has spread to your bones but this is not common. Prostate cancer cells in the bone may cause pain in your:
Back
Hips
Pelvis
Other bony areas
Cancer that has spread to other areas of the body is called metastatic or secondary prostate cancer. Other symptoms that may occur are weight loss, particularly in elderly men, and difficulty getting an erection (where you haven't had difficulty before).
Prostate cancer can grow slowly or very quickly. Most prostate cancer is slow-growing to start with and may never cause any symptoms or problems in a man's lifetime. However, some men will have cancer that is more aggressive or 'high risk.' This needs treatment to help prevent or delay it spreading outside the prostate gland.
Black men are more likely to get prostate cancer than men of other ethnic backgrounds. In the UK, about 1 in 4 black men will get prostate cancer at some point in their lives. The reasons for this are not yet clear but might be linked to genes.
Prostate cancer mainly affects men over the age of 50 and risk increases with age. All men aged over 50 are entitled to have a PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) blood test as long as they have first talked through the pros and cons with their GP. However, some men do develop prostate cancer at a younger age than 50.
Family history
Inside every cell in our body is a set of instructions called genes. These are inherited from our parents. If something goes wrong with one or more genes (known as a fault or mutation), it can cause cancer. Some faults in genes can be passed on from your parents and could increase your risk of prostate cancer.
You are two and a half times more likely to get prostate cancer if your father or brother has been diagnosed with it, compared to a man who has no relatives with prostate cancer.
You may have a higher chance of getting prostate cancer if your relative was under 60 when they were diagnosed with prostate cancer, or if you have more than one first degree relative (father or brother) with prostate cancer.
You may have a higher risk of prostate cancer if your mother or sister has had breast cancer, particularly if they were diagnosed under the age of 60. This risk is only higher for men whose relative’s breast cancer was linked to faults in genes called BRCA1 or BRCA2. The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are sometimes known as breast cancer genes. Faults in these genes can increase a woman’s chance of getting breast cancer. They can also increase a man’s chance of getting prostate cancer. Faults in these genes are rare but if you have relatives with prostate cancer or breast cancer and are worried about this, speak to your GP. Although the risk is increased, it doesn’t necessarily mean you will get prostate cancer.
Faults in other genes may also increase the risk of prostate cancer. Each of these faults may only increase your risk a small amount. But if you have lots of these faults, you may have a higher risk of prostate cancer. We need more research to fully understand how faults in genes affect a man’s risk of prostate cancer.