Prostate cancer may not cause signs or symptoms in its early stages. In fact, most men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer do not show symptoms at all. Because of improved screening methods, most men today are being diagnosed early, when the prostate cancer has not yet begun to cause problems. In some advanced cases, symptoms arise because the prostate cancer is metastasizing to other organs such as bone. As the prostate cancer grows, men may experience these symptoms:
Prostate Cancer Symptoms
- Weak urination
Having a weak urinary system, waiting too long to start urinating, failing to empty the bladder, or having the urine stream stop and start during urination can be a sign of prostate cancer, but more likely, this is a result of an overgrowth in normal prostate cells, or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which are not cancerous. BPH causes urinary problems, because it usually grows along the urethra in an area called the transition zone. Most prostate cancers develop in the outer area of the prostate, or the peripheral zone, which does not cause urinary symptoms.
- Inability to urinate
An inability to urinate and kidney failure are considered severe symptoms of prostate cancer. While BPH can sometimes be the reason, it may also mean that the prostate cancer is large and has spread locally or elsewhere. If it has metastasized, or spread into the base of the bladder, it may block the ureters, or tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder, or it may block the urethra.
- Painful or frequent urination
An urgent need to urinate and painful urination may indicate prostate cancer, although often this is an indication of infection. Other causes could be a benign enlargement of the prostate, bladder cancer or an unrelated irritation in the bladder.
- Blood in urine
Blood in the urine is usually a sign of some other condition besides prostate cancer. But sometimes prostate cancer causes blood to appear in the urine. This may be a signal that the disease has spread to the urethra or the bladder and is fairly advanced.
- Blood in semen
Blood in ejaculated semen is most commonly associated with a condition called prostatitis, which is the inflammation of the prostate and easily treated with antibiotics. However, for men 55 and older, it can also mean that prostate cancer present.
- Erectile dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction could be an indication that the nerves that control erections have been invaded by prostate cancer. When man has a decrease in the firmness of his erections, the reasons could be wholly unrelated to prostate cancer, but in evaluating the erectile dysfunction, a doctor usually screens for prostate cancer.
- Abdominal pain or digestive symptoms
Although rare, advanced prostate cancer can invade or surround the rectum, producing obstructive symptoms similar to colorectal cancer. Normally, the tough tissue that divides the rectum from the prostate is able to prevent invading prostate cancer from spreading to the rectum directly. But when it does happen, men may experience constipation, abdominal pain and cramping, bleeding or intermittent diarrhea.
- Weight loss, fatigue, or generalized weakness
As any cancer advances, it metastasizes, or spreads, to other sites in the body, and cause symptoms such as loss of appetite, loss of weight, tiredness and weakness. However, some men, in the early stages of their advanced prostate cancer, do not experience any of these symptoms.
- Back or pelvic pain
Pain in the back and pelvic areas are common symptoms of many conditions that not associated with prostate cancer. But unrelenting back or pelvic pain is often a sign of advanced prostate cancer, because when the disease spreads to the bones, it will usually start in the pelvis and spine. Bone pain in other areas is also possible, since prostate cancer can also spread to the ribs and bones in the extremes. Sometimes, the first sign of bone metastasis is a fracture, especially in the hips, where the bones have been weakened by the prostate cancer.
- Pain, numbness or weakness in the legs
The nerves located in or near the lower part of the spinal cord affect the legs, bladder, and intestines. When advanced prostate cancer metastasizes in the spine, it will sometimes compress these nerves, causing pain, weakness or numbness or the legs, as well as cause problems with urinary or bowel or control, or even cause paralysis.
- Clotting disorders
Cancer will often change the blood’s coagulation properties. While rare, men with advanced prostate cancer may experience severe bleeding. In these cases, it is believed that substances are being released from the prostate cancer and into the bloodstream, causing not only clotting in the body, but also destroying the substance in the blood that is necessary for clotting.
- Mental changes and other symptoms
When prostate cancer spreads into the bones, it can force large amounts of the bone’s calcium to leak into the bloodstream, causing hypocalcaemia. The extremely high levels of calcium in the blood will then cause mental changes, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
Improved Testing for Prostate Cancer
Because of more awareness, better tests and improved screening, fewer than 5% of men, who are diagnosed with prostate cancer, show symptoms of the disease. And while these symptoms are usually because of issues other than prostate cancer, they can be an indication of the disease’s advancement. If you are experiencing some degree of these symptoms, you should consult your physician, who will want to do screening tests to at least eliminate prostate cancer as the cause.
Prostate cancer warning signs to discuss with your doctor:
If you are going in for a checkup or because you have been experiencing some of these symptoms, before your office visit, consider the following questions and bring your answers with you to discuss with your doctor:
- Do you experience a need to urinate frequently during the day or at night?
- Are you having trouble beginning urination?
- Can you stop or start urinating when you go to the bathroom?
- Do you feel as though you can’t get rid of all the urine in your bladder?
- Does your urine stream seem weaker than usual?
- Is it a strain to go to the bathroom?
- Have you noticed blood in your urine?
- Do you feel pain or bleed when you have an orgasm?
- Do you experience pain in your lower back, bones, muscles, chest or pelvis?
- Have you lost any weight loss in the past few months? Were you trying to lose the weight? Also, how much and how fast did you lose the weight?
- Do you experience excessive weariness, weakness, fevers or night sweats?
