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Health Promotion Spotlight Physical Health

Prostate Cancer

Introduction

Prostate cancer rates are increasing across the world, with about 10.8 million men globally living with prostate cancer. Annually, over 1.4 million men receive a prostate cancer diagnosis each year.

In the UK, 1 in 8 men will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis in their lifetime with it being the most common form of cancer in men aged over 45.

Getting a diagnosis

It is important to get a prostate cancer diagnosis early, as this increases the likelihood of combatting the disease. The issue is that early forms of the cancer often have few, if any, symptoms. This means that it’s important to get regular check-ups from your GP if you fall into any of the increased risk categories.

Those categories are:

  • age – if you are aged 50 or older, your risk of developing prostate cancer increases
  • race/ancestry – although the reasons are not fully understood, prostate cancer is more common in black men and those with African ancestry. If you fall into this category, start talking to your doctor about your prostate cancer risk from the age of 40.
  • family history – if you have a father, uncle or brother who has or had prostate cancer, or a mother or sister with breast or ovarian cancer, you are genetically more likely to develop the disease. If you fall into this category, start talking to your doctor about your prostate cancer risk from the age of 40.

Symptoms

You should also talk to your doctor if you develop or notice any of these symptoms:

  • trouble urinating – this might take the form of a weak flow, frequent urination, trouble starting, urgent needs to go to the toilet, straining or needing to get up many times during the night
  • trouble fully emptying your bladder – maybe you feel like your bladder isn’t completely empty after you’ve urinated or there is excessive “dribbling”
  • pain or burning when urinating
  • aches and pains in lower back and hips
  • difficulty getting or maintaining an erection
  • blood in your urine or semen.

It is important to remember that these symptoms do not automatically mean that you have prostate cancer – they could be caused by another condition, so it is essential that you get checked over by your GP.

When you speak to your GP, you should let them know about any symptoms you are experiencing and any family history of prostate cancer or breast and ovarian cancer.

Testing

You may be asked to perform a PSA (prostate specific antigen) blood test, which is the most common screening method for this form of cancer, and then invited back to the surgery to discuss your results and what they mean.

Treatment

If you are diagnosed with prostate cancer, you may have to undergo further tests or scans to establish which treatment pathway is likely to be the most effective. These options include:

Monitoring

Prostate cancer can be slow growing and may never cause you any issues, whereas some treatments can cause serious side effects. For this reason, if your cancer is small, you may be advised that monitoring the cancer is the best course, either through regular check-ups with the GP or through regular hospital scans.

Surgery

This would involve removing the prostate entirely and, like all surgeries, does involve risk.

Radiotherapy

This treatment uses high-energy radiation to kill cancer cells and may be used to treat cancer that has not spread very far or slow the cancer down if it has spread.

Hormone therapy

This may be used to block testosterone which can cause the cancer the to grow. By itself, hormone therapy does not cure prostate cancer, but it may slow it down.

Chemotherapy

This is commonly used for advanced prostate cancer and is a form of medicine that kills cancer cells.

Other treatment options

  • high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) – using sound waves to kill cancer cells
  • cryotherapy – freezing cancer cells to kill them.

Help and support

Help and support is available at all stages, both before diagnosis and during treatment. In addition to your GP and treatment team, you may wish to contact the following organisations:

References

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