Prostate Cancer Symptoms

If you’ve recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer, you may be asking yourself if there were symptoms you should have noticed earlier. Unfortunately, early warning signs for prostate cancer are rare. The growing tumor usually does not push against anything to cause pain, so the disease may be silent for many years. That’s why screening for prostate cancer is such an important topic for all men and their families.

Most urinary symptoms that men experience are due to other (non-cancer) causes. However, in rare cases, prostate cancer can cause symptoms that include:

► A need to urinate frequently, especially at night, sometimes urgently

► Difficulty starting or holding back urination

► Weak, dribbling, or interrupted flow of urine

► Painful or burning urination

► A decrease in the amount of fluid ejaculated

► Painful ejaculation

► Blood in the urine or semen

When the disease is more advanced (spread outside the prostate), symptoms can include:

► Pain or stiffness in the lower back, hips, pelvis, or thighs

► Leg weakness

► Anemia (low blood count)

► Unexplained weight loss

Remember: Symptoms are symptoms, and no matter what’s most likely to be causing them, you should get them checked out by a doctor. It is much more likely that such symptoms are caused by non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland, as opposed to prostate cancer.