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Prostate cancer - Symptoms

Description

An in-depth report on the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of prostate cancer.

Symptoms:

Prostate cancer usually causes no symptoms in the early stages. As the malignancy spreads, it may constrict the urethra and cause urinary problems.

Urine flows from the kidney through the ureters into the urinary bladder where it is temporarily stored. As the bladder becomes distended with urine, nerve impulses from the bladder signal the brain that it is full, giving the individual the urge to void. By voluntarily relaxing the sphincter muscle around the urethra, the bladder can be emptied of urine. Urine then flows out through the urethra.

Later Stage Urinary Symptoms

Later-stage urinary symptoms typically include:

Weak urinary stream
Inability to urinate
Blood in the urine
Interruption of urinary stream (stopping and starting)
Frequent urination (especially at night)
Pain or burning during urination

Late Stage General Symptoms

Significant pain in one or more bones may indicate the occurrence of metastases (spread of disease). This chronic pain occurs most often in the spine and sometimes flares in the pelvis, the lower back, the hips, or the bones of the upper legs. It may be accompanied by significant unexplained weight loss and fatigue.

Conditions with Similar Symptoms

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). BPH is a urinary condition that can develop into an enlarged prostate, which puts pressure on the urethra and causes urinary problems. BPH is not a cancerous or precancerous condition, but its symptoms can mimic late-stage prostate cancer. [For more information, see In-Depth Report #71: Benign prostatic hyperplasia.]

Benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) is a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland, commonly found in men over the age of 50.

Enlarged prostate gland
Click the icon to see an animation about benign prostatic hypertrophy.

Prostatitis. Prostatitis is an inflammation of the prostate, often caused by bacterial infections. Symptoms include urgency, frequency, and pain in urination, sometimes accompanied by fever or blood in the urine.

Resources

www.cancer.gov -- National Cancer Institute
www.cancer.org -- American Cancer Society
www.asco.org -- American Society of Clinical Oncology
www.cancer.net/portal/site/patient -- Cancer.Net
www.prostatecancerfoundation.org -- Prostate Cancer Foundation
www.urologyhealth.org -- Urology Health
www.nccn.org -- National Comprehensive Cancer Network
www.cdc.gov/cancer/prostate -- CDC Cancer Prevention and Control
www.psa-rising.com -- PSA Rising: Prostate Cancer Survivor Info
www.ustoo.org -- Us Too! Prostate Cancer Education and Support
www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials -- Find clinical trials
www.zerocancer.org -- Zero -- The Project to End Prostate Cancer

References

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Comparative effectiveness of therapies for clinically localized prostate cancer: executive summary no. 13. AHRQ Pub. No. 08-EHC010-1. February 2008.

American Urological Association. Prostate-specific antigen best practice statement: 2009 update. April 2009.

Andriole GL, Crawford ED, Grubb RL 3rd, Buys SS, Chia D, Church TR, et al. Mortality results from a randomized prostate-cancer screening trial. N Engl J Med. 2009 Mar 26;360(13):1310-9. Epub 2009 Mar 18.

Babaian RJ, Donnelly B, Bahn D, Baust JG, Dineen M, Ellis D, et al. Best practice statement on cryosurgery for the treatment of localized prostate cancer. J Urol. 2008 Nov;180(5):1993-2004. Epub 2008 Sep 25.

D'Amico AV, Chen MH, Renshaw AA, Loffredo M, Kantoff PW. Androgen suppression and radiation vs radiation alone for prostate cancer: a randomized trial. JAMA. 2008 Jan 23;299(3):289-95.

Gaziano JM, Glynn RJ, Christen WG, Kurth T, Belanger C, MacFadyen J, et al. Vitamins E and C in the prevention of prostate and total cancer in men: the Physicians' Health Study II randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2009 Jan 7;301(1):52-62. Epub 2008 Dec 9.

Keating NL, O'Malley AJ, Smith MR. Diabetes and cardiovascular disease during androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2006 Sep 20;24(27):4448-56.

Kramer BS, Hagerty KL, Justman S, Somerfield MR, Albertsen PC, Blot WJ, et al. Use of 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors for prostate cancer chemoprevention: American Society of Clinical Oncology/American Urological Association 2008 Clinical Practice Guideline. J Clin Oncol. 2009 Mar 20;27(9):1502-16. Epub 2009 Feb 24.

Lawson KA, Wright ME, Subar A, Mouw T, Hollenbeck A, Schatzkin A, et al. Multivitamin use and risk of prostate cancer in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2007 May 16;99(10):754-64.

Lim LS, Sherin K; ACPM Prevention Practice Committee. Screening for prostate cancer in U.S. men ACPM position statement on preventive practice. Am J Prev Med. 2008 Feb;34(2):164-70.

Lin K, Lipsitz R, Miller T, Janakiraman S; U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Benefits and harms of prostate-specific antigen screening for prostate cancer: an evidence update for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Ann Intern Med. 2008 Aug 5;149(3):192-9.

Lippman SM, Klein EA, Goodman PJ, Lucia MS, Thompson IM, Ford LG, et al. Effect of selenium and vitamin E on risk of prostate cancer and other cancers: the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT). JAMA. 2009 Jan 7;301(1):39-51. Epub 2008 Dec 9.

Litwin MS, Gore JL, Kwan L, Brandeis JM, Lee SP, Withers HR, et al. Quality of life after surgery, external beam irradiation, or brachytherapy for early-stage prostate cancer. Cancer. 2007 Jun 1;109(11):2239-47.

Loblaw DA, Virgo KS, Nam R, Somerfield MR, Ben-Josef E, Mendelson DS, et al. Initial hormonal management of androgen-sensitive metastatic, recurrent, or progressive prostate cancer: 2006 update of an American Society of Clinical Oncology practice guideline. J Clin Oncol. 2007 Apr 20;25(12):1596-605. Epub 2007 Apr 2.

Lu-Yao GL, Albertsen PC, Moore DF, Shih W, Lin Y, DiPaola RS, et al. Survival following primary androgen deprivation therapy among men with localized prostate cancer. JAMA. 2008 Jul 9;300(2):173-81.

National Comprehensive Cancer Network. NCCN clinical practice guidelines in oncology: prostate cancer. V.2.2009.

Sanda MG, Dunn RL, Michalski J, Sandler HM, Northouse L, Hembroff L, et al. Quality of life and satisfaction with outcome among prostate-cancer survivors. N Engl J Med. 2008 Mar 20;358(12):1250-61.

Schröder FH, Hugosson J, Roobol MJ, Tammela TL, Ciatto S, Nelen V, et al. Screening and prostate-cancer mortality in a randomized European study. N Engl J Med. 2009 Mar 26;360(13):1320-8. Epub 2009 Mar 18.

Shelley M, Wilt TJ, Coles B, Mason MD. Cryotherapy for localised prostate cancer. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007 Jul 18;(3):CD005010.

Smith RA, Cokkinides V, Brawley OW. Cancer screening in the United States, 2009: a review of current American Cancer Society guidelines and issues in cancer screening. CA Cancer J Clin. 2009 Jan-Feb;59(1):27-41.

Thompson I, Thrasher JB, Aus G, Burnett AL, Canby-Hagino ED, et al. Guideline for the management of clinically localized prostate cancer: 2007 update. J Urol. 2007 Jun;177(6):2106-31.

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for prostate cancer: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement. Ann Intern Med. 2008 Aug 5;149(3):185-91.

Van Patten CL, de Boer JG, Tomlinson Guns ES. Diet and dietary supplement intervention trials for the prevention of prostate cancer recurrence: a review of the randomized controlled trial evidence. J Urol. 2008 Dec;180(6):2314-21; discussion 2721-2. Epub 2008 Oct 18.

Walsh PC, DeWeese TL, Eisenberger MA. Clinical practice. Localized prostate cancer. N Engl J Med. 2007 Dec 27;357(26):2696-705.

Walter LC, Bertenthal D, Lindquist K, Konety BR. PSA screening among elderly men with limited life expectancies. JAMA. 2006 Nov 15;296(19):2336-42.

Wilt TJ, MacDonald R, Hagerty K, Schellhammer P, Kramer BS.Five-alpha-reductase inhibitors for prostate cancer prevention. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008 Apr 16;(2):CD007091.

Wilt TJ, MacDonald R, Rutks I, Shamliyan TA, Taylor BC, Kane RL. Systematic review: comparative effectiveness and harms of treatments for clinically localized prostate cancer. Ann Intern Med. 2008 Mar 18;148(6):435-48. Epub 2008 Feb 4.

Reviewed last on: 8/5/2009
Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

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