Pain in Pelvis: 24 Causes in Men and Women, Plus Other Symptoms
Four Red Flag Symptoms Of Prostate Cancer Every Man Should Look Out For When They Pee
Most men with prostate cancer have no symptoms in the early stages. But it's important to recognise if something could be wrong with your prostate and go for help so you can be tested, according to Dr Deborah Lee, Dr Fox Online Pharmacy.
Early diagnosis of prostate cancer gives the best prognosis. Dr Lee said: "The best outcome occurs in men who were diagnosed with early prostate cancer. In England, four in 10 men are diagnosed when their prostate cancer is at an advanced stage."
Dr Lee outlined four symptoms when you pee, which are more often than not, are nothing to worry about, but could also signal prostate cancer:
Other symptoms Dr Lee notes are not getting to the toilet on time and leaking urine, urinary retention - having a full bladder and being unable to pee at all - and pain on erection or ejaculation.
With more advanced prostate cancer the following symptoms may occur:
There is no current screening programme for prostate cancer in the UK.
But on November 19, 2023, the UK government joined Prostate Cancer UK to unveil a £42 million screening trial to find ways to detect the country's most common male cancer earlier.
The first-of-its-kind trial - called TRANSFORM - will use innovative screening methods like an MRI scan to detect prostate cancer, and it will see hundreds of thousands of men across the country participating.
All men over the age of 50 are currently entitled to a free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, but have to make an appointment with their GP and request the test.
Until now, this has not been a conclusive test for prostate cancer and is hard to interpret.
The trial has the potential to see new screening methods give more accurate results than the current blood tests, which can miss some cancers and often suggest prostate cancer when no cancer exists.
Crucially, screening could also spot the disease even when no symptoms are displayed.
Red Flag Sign Of Prostate Cancer You Might Notice When You Go To The Toilet
A doctor has shared that there are important symptoms that men need to be aware of that could symbolise problems with the prostate - including cancer - that need to be checked
There are symptoms you shouldn't ignore (Stock Image) (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Prostate cancer usually comes with no symptoms in the earliest stages, but doctors have warned that there are red flags that you should look out for when you go to the bathroom.
According to Dr Deborah Lee from Dr Fox Online Pharmacy, it's important that men are aware of these symptoms so they can get tested if they're concerned - especially as early diagnosis brings the best prognosis.
She told the Express: "The best outcome occurs in men who were diagnosed with early prostate cancer. In England, four in 10 men are diagnosed when their prostate cancer is at an advanced stage."
Dr Lee shared that a key symptom that may signify you need to speak to your GP is struggling to pee. If you're needing to go to the toilet, but physically struggling to urinate, you should contact your doctor.
Other symptoms you may have, according to Dr Lee, include:
Other symptoms Dr Lee shared are not getting to the bathroom in time to pee, and leaking urine, urinary retention, which is having a full bladder and being unable to pee - and also pain during an erection or ejaculation.
With more advanced prostate cancer the following symptoms may occur:
There is no current screening programme for prostate cancer in the UK, but Prostate Cancer UK and the government have launched 'TRANSFORM', a £42 million trial that aims to save thousands of men each year by finding the best way to screen for prostate cancer.
On their website, they explained: "Led and developed by us, and backed by £16 million of Government funding, the trial will involve hundreds of thousands of men - making it the biggest prostate cancer diagnosis trial in 20 years.
"The trial will compare the most promising tests and provide definitive evidence for the best way to screen for prostate cancer so that, in future, all men at risk will be invited for regular tests that can find the disease as early as possible."
All men over the age of 50 are currently entitled to a free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, but have to make an appointment with their GP and request the test, so the trial could be a game-changer for the diagnosis of prostate cancer.
If you're concerned about prostate cancer, contact your GP, ASAP.
Do you have a story to share? Email: danielle.Wroe@mirror.Co.Uk
'I Just Came Out As Someone Who Is Living With Cancer'
I recently did what will probably be the scariest thing I'll do this year: I came out on Facebook as a person living with cancer. To recap, on April 5, 2023, I was told I have prostate cancer. I must admit, the news didn't floor me. It came after months of appointments with my urologist, multiple PSA tests, and, finally, a very uncomfortable biopsy.
In my entire adult life, I have never felt as vulnerable as I did lying there in the fetal position waiting to be injected 12 times by a scary-looking needle. My urologist and his assistant tried to distract me from the physical and emotional discomfort during the procedure with mindless small talk, but it remains the darkest hour of this journey by far, so far.
I can't say I was completely devastated upon receiving the bad news a week later (months of preparation definitely softened the blow, even though my urologist had assured me his "level of suspicion was low"), but my heart did drop a little. It dipped a bit further as I started sharing the news: First, I told my husband, then the rest of my family, and then my best friend. I slowly opened up to a small circle of friends and colleagues, including my boss, who was incredibly supportive, as were the four other co-workers in whom I confided. One of them told me about his own experience with cancer, which provided one of the biggest boosts anyone gave me over the course of those first six months. He made me feel less alone at work.
I told a few of my good friends who I knew had gone through their own experiences with cancer. One of them said it's a "shitty club to be part of," and while I agreed at the time, I'm not so sure I agree now. If I had my choice, I probably would have joined a book club instead (and if you know me, you know that is something I would never ever willingly do), but I've had time to accept that I'm on a lifelong journey that will forever change me, hopefully for the better.
Jeremy Helligar.Jayden Malady
The months after the diagnosis were followed by multiple doctor's appointments for check-ups and second and third opinions. My regular urologist, who said my cancer was low-grade and slow-moving — so much so that they call it "not cancer" — recommended an MRI to determine if there were higher-grade cancer cells in my prostate or if it had metastasized to other parts of my body.
The MRI found that my cancer had not spread, but it detected two "suspicious" spots on my prostate. The biopsy had tested only 12 tissue samples, which is why an MRI was recommended once the prostate healed from the invasive procedure. For the first time since my diagnosis six weeks earlier, I freaked out.
My doctor remained calm and told me not to overthink it. Didn't he realize he was dealing with an extreme, hopeless hypochondriac? Of course, I was going to overthink it. I overthink everything, from punctuation to cancer diagnoses.
A second opinion was a must. My appointment with the second urologist was probably my worst doctor's appointment ever. He made it sound as if I was a walking timebomb. If I didn't have a life-changing prostatectomy as soon as possible, he insisted, I would be putting my life at risk. He delivered this frightening recommendation as if we were on a football field with 10 seconds left on the clock. Suddenly, I was 9 years old again, and my PE teacher was shouting at me to get over the wall on the obstacle course.
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Jeremy Helligar.Jayden Malady
Instead of collapsing in tears as I did in fourth grade, I told off Dr. Feelbad. It was quite the showdown, during which he had the nerve to tell me to "educate myself." (Later, when I returned to my regular urologist, he told me he had received a call from Dr. Feelbad, who said I had "scared him.") I felt like Dorothy Zbornak in The Golden Girls two-parter called "Sick and Tired." As I left Dr. Feelbad's office, seething, I wondered if he would have spoken to me in such a condescending and dismissive way, telling me to educate myself, if I were White.
Utterly confused by the two wildly different opinions, I booked an appointment with a urologist in Queens for a third opinion. He was recommended to me by a support group that I joined. He was lovely, and his take echoed that of my primary urologist, though he refrained from using words and phrases like "not cancer" and "don't overthink it." I would have switched to him permanently if his office wasn't all the way in Queens. He said that as happy as he would be to treat me, in order to save me the long trips from Manhattan to his office, he could refer me to a trusted colleague closer to where I live.
In the end, I decided to return to my regular urologist. Despite his overly casual attitude when offering my initial diagnosis, I had developed a good doctor-patient relationship with him over the previous two years, and I believed in his skill. He told me that with prostate cancer, a lot of old-school doctors opt for over-treatment, but he prefers to take a more conservative approach. Together, we decided to go with what they call "active surveillance." I will see him every three months and continue to have my PSA levels monitored and have another MRI in six months or so. As long as my PSA levels remain stable and my MRI results are clear (my low grade of prostate cancer — Gleason score: 6 — is not MRI-detectable, and those suspicious spots on my first MRI were deemed not-cancer-related upon further inspection), no treatment will be required.
It's a gutsy approach, but it works for me. At some point, I may require treatment, but it's also possible that I will live for another 40 years without ever requiring a prostatectomy, or radiation, or any other type of treatment. Initially, when I was first diagnosed, I didn't think I could possibly live my life knowing my body was harboring cancer, but once I had a few months to gather information, the alternative — a prostatectomy with side-effects that could include incontinence and erectile dysfunction and would prevent me from ever ejaculating again — seemed far more daunting than rolling the dice as long as I can. (My dad is 92, and he has been living with prostate cancer for 25 years, having been treated with radiation and hormone therapy.)
I'm still processing my cancer diagnosis, and although I wasn't planning on going public with it, the other day while walking our Yorkie, Chip, I started to reconsider. As is often the case on sunny, beautiful days, my future felt so bright, and I wanted to share my positivity with other people. I have witnessed the deterioration of friends and their loved ones due to cancer on Facebook, but what I don't see as often are positive stories that might actually help others who are going through the same thing or encourage others to listen to their body and be vigilant about their health.
Maybe going public will render me less employable in the future. Maybe people will feel uncomfortable around me or not know what to say to me other than "You got this" platitudes. I hope that isn't the case. I already feel a sense of relief. I feel lighter than I have since April 5. Ultimately, it doesn't really matter how the world sees me now in regard to my health. I've ceded control over that. I may be part of a shitty club, but at least I don't have to read Where the Crawdads Sing, unless I want to.
Some of us in this particularly shitty club go on to live longer, beautiful lives. Some of us don't. But isn't that how life goes anyway?
Editor's Note: After skin cancer, prostate cancer is the second most prevalent form of cancer among American men. More than 3.1 million American men are living with prostate cancer, and, according to the American Cancer Society, 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with the disease during their lifetime. Doctors recommend annual PSA screenings for men over the age of 40 and men at high risk for developing prostate cancer. If caught early, the five-year survival rate is 97 percent.
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