Prostate cancer is one of the most common tumors in men.

The prostate is the sexual gland of the man responsible for producing semen. It is located under the bladder of urine, surrounding the urethra, and its size varies with age. Unlike another type of cancer, prostate cancer is characterized by very slow evolution in most cases. There are many elderly men who died of other diseases not knowing they had prostate cancer since it never affected them during their lives.


It is believed that there are four main causes of prostate cancer, such as:

• genetic predisposition.
• some sexually transmitted infectious agents.
• environmental factors such as exposure to pollutants and, above all, hormonal factors.

Among the hormonal factors, we find the alteration of the male hormones called androgens, especially in men who take drugs of this type (bodybuilders, hormonal treatments).

How Do You Know If You Have Prostate Cancer? (Symptoms)

Prostate cancer, like most malignant tumors, causes no perceptible alteration by the patient in the early stages of the disease. There are tumors that evolve slowly and normally the symptomatology will appear in later stages. Symptoms of prostate cancer can take a long time, even years, to manifest. Some symptoms that may occur include:

• Sudden desire to urinate, which is known as voiding urgency. There may even be an involuntary loss of urine.
• Increased frequency of urination, especially at night (nocturia).
• Pain and stinging during urination (dysuria).
• Delay in the onset of urination, it is difficult to start urinating despite having the desire.
• Decrease of the force of the miccional jet or intermittency of the same. Urine flow is weak or intermittent (stops and goes out).
• Posterior drip.
• Difficulty emptying the bladder completely.
• Presence of blood in the urine (hematuria) or semen.
• Difficulty achieving an erection (impotence).
• Occasionally, the urethra is obstructed by the tumor and urinary retention (obstruction) appears.

A blood test may indicate that we need to have a prostate cancer screening.

There are some general symptoms that usually appear in the more advanced stages of the disease, such as loss of weight or appetite, localized bone pain, anemia, swelling of the lower limbs, kidney failure, weakness or numbness of the legs or feet, or even loss of control of the bladder or bowels, because cancer causes pressure in the spinal cord.

Can these symptoms be confused with another disease?

Yes, there are other conditions that can produce the same symptoms. If you suffer from any of these symptoms, or even several of them, it is most likely to be related to other benign diseases of the prostate and urinary system, which although they require medical treatment, is not cancer.

Must Read: 12 False Myths About Cancer

As we mentioned, as men age, the prostate gland may become larger and clog the urethra or bladder. This can cause urinary or sexual problems. This condition is called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and, although not cancerous, surgery may be needed. The main risk factor or cause of prostate cancer is age, as adults over 50 are often the most affected. By enlarging the normal size of the prostate, it progressively compresses the urethra, resulting in symptoms similar to those of prostate cancer, such as:

• difficulty urinating.
• incontinence.
• painful urination or bloody urine.
• weak urine stream or need for urinate two or more times at night.

It is not cancer, although it can be a serious health problem for some men, so sometimes treatment with drugs that reduce the size of the prostate is necessary, and if this is not enough, surgery will be necessary.

On the other hand, prostatitis is an inflammation of the prostate, either acutely (punctual) or chronic. When it is an inflammation, it means that it increases its size and, therefore, makes oppression on the urethra. Consequently, the symptoms that the patient will manifest are common to those seen in benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer. In this case, the patient will present: burning to urinate (dysuria) and increased voiding frequency. They can often present intense pain on the pubis, urinary obstruction, malaise, fever, muscle and/or joint pain. These latter symptoms are what differentiate this disease from the other two. Treatment will be based on antibiotics and analgesics.

Is Early Diagnosis Of Prostate Cancer Is Important?

Early diagnosis refers to tests that are performed to find cancer in people who do not have symptoms. For some cancers, screening can help find cancers at an early stage in the hope that it can be treated more effectively. For this reason, years ago began using PSA to make the early diagnosis of prostate cancer, because it was believed that this could save lives.

PSA is a prostate substance that can be measured with a simple blood test. When a high PSA is found it may indicate that the prostate is larger than normal, it is inflamed or infected, and also that there may be cancer. Over time, however, it has been discovered that elevated blood PSA levels are not always synonymous with cancer and that a normal figure does not rule out cancer altogether.

Prostate cancer affects mostly men over 50 years

If the patient is found to have a high PSA level, additional tests, such as rectal examination and prostate biopsy (analysis of prostate cells to determine if they are carcinogenic) are performed to ensure the reason for this abnormal figure.). If the biopsy confirms cancer and is not advanced, treatment with surgery or radiotherapy may be offered to try to cure it, with more chances of success. The problem is that both the treatments and the tests that are performed are not exempt of risks and side effects. And on the other hand, when a cancer is diagnosed, we can not know if it will be one that will develop or not.

In conclusion, early diagnosis of the prostate cancer can save lives, but it can also cause men with cancers that would never develop to suffer major sequelae, such as incontinence and impotence, for aggressive treatments that they did not need at first.

Knowing all this, important questions arise, should I undergo an early diagnosis of the prostate cancer? Is it necessary in my case? And if I have cancer and can cure myself, I do nothing? These issues have also been raised by experts and have come to the conclusion that it is best to treat each case individually with your specialist (urologist), assessing the benefits and side effects of screening and treatment. There are many factors to consider, including age and health status. If the man is young and has prostate cancer, the disease can shorten his life if not found soon.

Early diagnosis tests for the prostate cancer are less likely to help people who are older or unhealthy live longer. Because prostate cancer often grows slowly, tests should not be offered to men who do not show symptoms of cancer and do not have a life expectancy of 10 years, as they probably will not benefit from them.