Symptoms of prostate cancer

Cancers that are completely contained within the prostate gland are known as early prostate cancer|. Men with early prostate cancer will not have any symptoms at all. Prostate cancers usually only cause symptoms when they are large enough to press on the urinary tube (urethra) or disturb the bladder. For that reason, the symptoms of prostate cancer when they do appear, are very similar to the symptoms of simple enlargement of the prostate (BPH).| These include:

• pain or difficulty when passing urine
• passing urine more frequently than usual, especially at night
• blood in the urine or sperm, although this is rare.

Most men with these symptoms will not have prostate cancer, but it's always important to get them checked out by a doctor.

Prostate cancers can be very slow-growing. Even if the cancer cells have spread into the tissues around the prostate, known as locally advanced prostate cancer, they may not cause any problems with passing urine.

Sometimes a prostate cancer can spread beyond the prostate gland to other parts of the body. This is known as advanced or metastatic prostate cancer. The most common place prostate cancer spreads to is to the bones|, such as the spine, pelvis, thigh bone (femur) and ribs. Symptoms may include pain in the affected bone, most commonly in the back, pelvis, hips or ribs.