What is the prostate gland?

Only men have a prostate gland. The gland is usually the shape and size of a walnut. It lies underneath the bladder and surrounds the tube (urethra) that you pass urine and semen through.

What does it do?

The gland's main jobs are to support the neck of the bladder and to make some of the fluid of semen. Semen is a mixture of sperm and other fluids, which passes into the urethra during orgasm.

What goes wrong?

Normally the growth of all cells is carefully controlled in the body. As cells die, they are replaced in an orderly fashion. When cancer develops, the cells start to multiply in an uncontrolled way.

If this happens in the prostate gland, prostate cancer can develop. In most cases this is a slow growing cancer and it may stay undiagnosed because it never causes any symptoms or problems. However, this is not true for all men. Sometimes prostate cancer cells can grow quickly and move outside the prostate. They may then cause symptoms in other parts of the body, such as the bones.

How common is prostate cancer?

Every year nearly 35,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and 10,000 men die from it.  Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer diagnosed in men in the UK - every hour at least one man dies from this disease.

African Caribbean men are three times more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than their white counterparts.

Are some men more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer?

The major risk factors for prostate cancer are increasing age, especially past 50; having a family history; having a high fat, refined "westernised" diet and being of African or African Caribbean origin.

Age

The risk of getting prostate cancer gets higher as you get older. Most men diagnosed with prostate cancer are over the age of 50. Men from the age of about 40 can be affected, but this is less common.

Family history

You are two and a half times more likely to get prostate cancer if your father or brother has been diagnosed. The risk increases more if your relative was under the age of 60 when they were diagnosed, or if more than one relative has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Ethnicity

African Caribbean men are three times more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than white men. Researchers are looking at what may be causing this increased risk, but diet and genes probably play an important part.  

Diet

The typical Western diet is high in saturated animal fats and red meat. Researchers think this may be responsible for the higher rates of prostate cancer seen in Western countries. By reducing the amount of animal fat in your diet and eating more of certain fruits and vegetables, you can improve your overall health and may lower your risk of prostate cancer developing or spreading. Read our Tool Kit fact sheet on ‘Diet and prostate cancer' available from www.prostate-cancer.org.uk for more information.

What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?

The following symptoms may show that there is a problem with the prostate. However, most men with early prostate cancer have no symptoms at all. These symptoms can also be caused by other problems that are not related to prostate cancer.

- needing to urinate more often, especially at night

- needing to rush to the toilet

- difficulty starting to pass urine

- straining or taking a long time to finish

- a weak flow

- a feeling that your bladder has not emptied properly

- dribbling urine

- pain when passing urine

In addition other symptoms can be:

- new pain in the lower back, hips or pelvis

- problems getting or keeping an erection

- blood in the urine or semen - but this is very rare

It is important to remember that any of these symptoms can be caused by problems which are nothing to do with prostate cancer. If you are concerned about any symptoms that you have visit your GP.

How is it diagnosed?

If a doctor thinks there may be a prostate problem, they will ask about symptoms the man is experiencing. They will do some tests, including:

- a urine test to rule out infection, followed by a blood test to measure the PSA level

- a physical examination called a DRE (Digital Rectal Exam)

What is PSA?

Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) is a protein that the prostate produces. It is normal to have some PSA in the blood.

If there is a problem in the prostate, the levels in the blood can go up. The normal level varies with age and can be up to 4ng/ml for a man of 60 years. It is slightly less for younger men and slightly more for older men.

The PSA test is not a test for cancer, but it can show the GP that there is a problem with the prostate. The PSA test result may mean that other tests in hospital are needed.

Approximately two out of three men with a raised PSA level will not have prostate cancer. The higher the level of PSA the more likely it is to be cancer. The PSA test can also miss prostate cancer.

What is a PSA test?

A PSA test measures the level of protein in your blood. If the level in the blood is raised, it may indicate that prostate cancer is present. However, many men with raised PSA will not have prostate cancer. The PSA test can also miss prostate cancer.

For more information please visit  The Prostate Cancer Charity