Prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer in the UK, accounting for a quarter of all cancers diagnosed in men. More than 34,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year.

How does prostate cancer develop?

Cancer in the prostate, like cancer in other parts of the body, starts with changes in a single cell or group of cells. Normally, the growth of cells is carefully controlled and as cells die, they are replaced in an orderly fashion. When cancer develops, the cells lose this important control system and suddenly multiply creating a mass of abnormal cells cancer cells, called a tumour. These cancer cells can invade and destroy tissue surrounding them.

It is important to emphasise that not all prostate cancers are the same. In some people, especially older men, prostate cancer will be slow-growing and unlikely to spread during the individual’s lifetime. However, some men will develop a more aggressive, fast-growing prostate cancer which, left untreated, will spread and become life-threatening.

Men with prostate cancer often have no symptoms and there is no screening programme in the UK. This means that some men with fast-growing cancers are not diagnosed in time for curative treatment, leading to 10,000 deaths a year.

What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?

During the early stages of prostate cancer, there are usually no symptoms. As prostate cancer advances, symptoms may include:

blood in the urine
frequent need to go to the toilet, particularly at night
weak urine flow that stops and starts
inability to urinate (urinary retention)
persistent pain in the back, thighs and pelvis
inability to get an erection (impotence)

However, these symptoms usually occur for other reasons including a urine infection, or an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia), but not prostate cancer. Therefore, you should not immediately worry and think you may have cancer if you have these symptoms. Nevertheless, they must be assessed by a doctor.

Prostate cancer risk

We do not know exactly why some men develop prostate cancer and others do not, but it is clear that both genetic and lifestyle factors are significant. On average, the overall risk of developing prostate cancer at some stage during your lifetime is one in 12. Risk factors for prostate cancer include:

Age

The older men get, the more likely they are to develop cancer in their prostate.

Ethnicity

Afro-Caribbean men are at higher risk than Caucasians and men from the Far East have a lower risk for cancer.

Obesity

This is understood to influence the type of prostate cancer you may develop, increasing your risk of having more aggressive forms of the disease.

Diet

Studies show there is a link between diet and prostate cancer risk.