Prostate Cancer Symptoms You Can’t Ignore.

Here at LifeInsuranceProstateCancer.com, we constantly stress the importance of early detection in treating prostate cancer. A silent killer, prostate cancer often shows no symptoms. This means that diligence and proactive screening is required to catch any signs of cancer before it reaches advanced stages and becomes more difficult to treat.

According to Cancer Research UK, symptoms often don’t occur because cancer starts to form away from the urethra. Unless the tumor is particularly large and puts pressure on the urethra – which causes pain and noticeable symptoms – you may not be aware that you have cancer.

However, just because prostate cancer often shows no signs doesn’t mean that it can not show symptoms. In fact, there are a few symptoms that you should be aware of and should see a doctor if you are experiencing, as they could indicate the presence of prostate cancer.

8 Symptoms You Should Never Ignore

As you age, chances are your prostate gland will enlarge and cause discomfort. The PSA, or prostate specific antigen, levels in your blood will also increase naturally with age. Prostate growth can be caused by a variety of factors including the presence of infections, ethnicity, chemical irritations, or the use of certain medications. Your doctor should warn you about these age-related side-effects, and they should not be cause for too much worry.

However, there are a few symptoms indicating prostate growth that should not be ignored.

 

• Trouble urinating

• Slow or weak urinary stream

• Increased frequency urinating

• Blood in urine or semen

• Erectile Dysfunction

• Pain in the hips, thighs, or lower back

• Pelvic discomfort

• Bone pain

I Have These Symptoms; Should I Be Worried?

While these symptoms should not be ignored, they do not necessarily always indicate the presence of prostate cancer.

A temporary inflammation of  the prostate gland, called prostatitis, can cause many of these symptoms of discomfort. Prostatitis can be brought about by bacterial infections, urine backup into the prostate, chemical irritation, or nerve problems within the lower urinary tract.

These symptoms can also be caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia. Hyperplasia simply means an increase in the number of cells in an organ or tissue. BPH is a relatively common disorder: according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, BPH affects 20% of men in their fifties and as many as 70% of males in their 70s. Symptoms of BPH show because it occurs within the inner prostate, near the tissue surrounding the urethra. As the tissue swells, it puts pressure on the urethra and causes the above symptoms.

While the side effects of BPH are uncomfortable and may sound scary, BPH does not increase your risk for prostate cancer. It can, however, be extremely painful and may need surgical treatment.

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Diagnosing Your Symptoms

In some rare cases, these symptoms can indicate the presence of cancer. When discussing your symptoms with your doctor, be sure to be honest about any pain or discomfort you are feeling and to disclose any medications you are taking. These symptoms could indicate the presence of any number of diseases, so you want to make sur eyou are giving your doctor a clear picture of what you are feeling and your current state of health.

After discussing your symptoms, your doctor will then screen you for prostate cancer, using a digital rectal exam and aPSA test. A digital rectal exam is used to feel for any abnormalities and can determine whether or not your symptoms are the result of cancer, prostatitis, or BPH.

If any abnormalities in the prostate are detected during the digital rectal exam, your doctor will obtain a sample of your prostate tissue using a thin, hollow needle. The biopsy sample will then be sent to a laboratory to determine the presence of cancerous cells. If the biopsy confirms the presence of cancer, the cancer cells will then be graded using the Gleason Score, a grading system that combines two numbers (from 2 to 10) that determines how aggressive the cancer is.

If you have prostate cancer, you and your doctor should sit down and and review all over your treatment options, taking into account your personalized medical history and the stage and grade of your cancer.

Treatment Options

If you have benign prostatic hyperplasia, you should talk to your doctor about courses of treatment. If left untreated, BPH can lead to kidney damage, urinary tract infections, or bladder stones. BPH can be treated with alpha blockers such as Flomax, which eases the bladder muscles and the prostate muscle fibers. This will make it easier to urinate, alleviating the frequent urgency and weak urine stream. Alpha blocker treatments are typically combines with medications called 5 alpha reductase inhibitors, which shrink the prostate gland.

Surgery is also an option for treating BPH. This minimally invasive surgical procedure is called transurethral microwave thermotherapy (TUMT). During this procedure, a small microwave antenna is inserted through the tip of your penis into the urethra. This antenna is then extended until it reaches the prostate, where it emits microwave energy. This energy eliminates any excess prostate tissue that may be blocking the urine flow.

If you are diagnosed with prostate cancer, you have many treatment options available to you. If it is a low grade, slow growing cancer, your doctor might recommend a treatment of “active surveillance” in which the growth of the prostate cancer is carefully monitored through PSA screenings and biopsies. Other courses of treatment involve chemotherapy, radiation, or a radical prostatectomy to remove the prostate gland and the surrounding cancerous tissue.

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Bottom Line

Being proactive about your health is important; if you are experiencing any of the symptoms listed above, you should seek medical attention. The chances that these symptoms indicate cancer are small, but that does not mean they aren’t serious problems. Don’t ignore your body: talk to your doctor about any symptoms or health abnormalities you are concerned about. These may seem like trivial health concerns in the moment, but when left untreated they could pose bigger issues down the line.