Problems and Treatments

The Facts

You’ve probably got lots of questions. Here you will find out more information about prostate cancer – what it actually is and how it is detected.

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men, and risks are increased if there is a history of the disease in your family.

• Prostate cancer affects 36% of cancer sufferers
• 35,000 men are diagnosed with the disease each year.
• 1 in 10 men are affected.

There are lots of prostate cancer statistics, but if you are a sufferer, you don’t want to be treated like one. That’s why the British Prostate Centre will look after you as an individual.

What is Prostate Cancer?

Prostate cancer is the most frequent malignant tumour in men (36%). It’s far more frequent than lung cancer (14%) and colon cancer (10.4%). However, it ranks as only the third cause of death due to cancer.

Around 8% of men get prostate cancer. There are generally no signs or symptoms during the early stages of the disease and its severity varies considerably from case to case. Some prostate cancers are so slow growing that they are relatively harmless while others may spread more quickly.

This may be difficult to predict, but a prostate biopsy can show how the cancer is likely to behave by how abnormal the tissue looks on microscopic examination.

The risk of developing prostate cancer, particularly early onset of the disease, is believed to be strongly affected by family history. In fact, on average, hereditary prostate cancer is diagnosed 6 to 7 years earlier than the sporadic form.

If you are over 40 and have a family history of the disease, regular, targeted screening is suggested. Men at increased risk are advised to take a PSA or PCA3 (genetic) test at regular 6 month intervals. This allows any irregularities to be caught early on whilst still at a curable stage.