Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men.

1 in 8 men will get prostate cancer. If you are over 50, or you are black of South Africa or Caribbean origin, or your dad or brother had it, you are at even higher risk.

The prostate is a gland, usually the size and shape of a walnut and it grows bigger as you get older. It sits underneath the bladder and surrounds the urethra (urine tube) where one urinates out of the body. The main job of the prostate is to make semen, the fluid that carries the sperm.

Not every enlargement of the prostate gland means cancer, it can also be non-cancerous, such as enlarged prostate or prostatitis.

How do I know if I have an issue with my prostate?

One might have a problem going to the toilet, passing urine.

But most of the time it does not have any symptoms.

Such symptoms could be:

• Difficulty starting to urinate or emptying your bladder.
• A weak flow when you urinate.
• A feeling that your bladder has not emptied properly.
• Dribbling urine after finishing urinating.
• Needing to urinate more than often than usual, usually at night.
• A sudden need to urinate, sometimes leak urine by accident before getting to the toilet in time.
• Back pain, hip pain or pelvis pain
• Blood in the urine/semen
• Unexplained weight loss

If you have any of the above symptoms, it is advisable to go to your Doctor/GP to discuss the symptoms. Not all the symptoms can be related to prostate cancer, it can be other health problems.