What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?

In its early stages, prostate cancer often has no symptoms. As the cancer progresses and the prostate becomes enlarged, symptoms that may be experienced include: • Passing urine more frequently during the day and/or night. • Difficulty passing urine. • Urgency to pass urine. • Leaking urine. • Blood in the urine or semen. • Erection problems.

Prostate cancer often has no symptoms in its early stages

You should see your doctor if you experience any of these symptoms. However, it is important to remember that these symptoms are common in people who do not have prostate cancer; they may also be caused by other conditions. For example, benign prostatic hyperplasia is caused by enlargement of the prostate gland. Benign prostatic hyperplasia does not usually develop into cancer, but can have similar symptoms to prostate cancer as a result of the enlarged prostate gland pressing on the urethra.

Screening for prostate cancer

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a protein that is produced by normal cells and by cancerous prostate cells. It is normal for all men to have some PSA in their blood, but a high level of PSA can be a sign of prostate cancer. Routine testing (or screening) of PSA levels in men who do not have any symptoms of prostate cancer is not recommended. This is because large studies have shown that although this type of screening can reduce the number of deaths from prostate cancer, it also leads to many men being falsely diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer. However, PSA testing may be useful in certain groups of people, for example men who have a family history of prostate cancer.

There is currently no routine screening programme for prostate cancer in the general population