Movember 2024

Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

If you would like to be checked for prostate cancer, please read the information below.

If you have any of the symptoms listed below, we strongly suggest you book an in-person GP appointment. 

If you have read all the information below and would like to be booked in for a PSA blood test, please request one and state 'I have read all the information on your website. I would only like a blood test.'

What is Prostate Cancer?

Prostate cancer can develop when cells in the prostate start to grow in an uncontrolled way. Some prostate cancer grows too slowly to cause any problems or affect how long you live. Because of this, many men with prostate cancer will never need any treatment. Some prostate cancer grows quickly and is more likely to spread. This is more likely to cause problems and needs treatment to stop it spreading.

Symptoms of prostate cancer

Prostate cancer, especially if it is small/early or only in one part of the prostate may not cause any symptoms. However people may experience the following:

• difficulty starting to urinate or emptying your bladder
• a weak flow when you urinate
• a feeling that your bladder hasn’t emptied properly
• dribbling urine after you finish urinating
• needing to urinate more often than usual, especially at night
• a sudden need to urinate – you may sometimes leak urine before you get to the toilet.

There are non-cancer conditions that can cause similar symptoms. However if you experience any of these symptoms it’s a good idea to discuss them with a GP.

Risk factors for prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is unfortunately quite common – about 1 in 8 men will get it at some point in their life. There are some factors which increase the chance that you will develop it. These include:

• Age – it is more common in over 50s, and the risk increases as you get older
• Family history – having a father or brother with prostate cancer increases your risk of getting it by two and a half times. Your risk may also be increased if you have a mother or sister who has had breast cancer
• Ethnicity – Black men are twice as likely to get prostate cancer – 1 in 4 will get it at some point in their life, and the risk increases from age 45

You can use this online calculator to identify if you are at increased risk: Check your risk in 30 seconds | Prostate Cancer UK
More information about risk factors is available here: Prostate Cancer Risk Factors | Prostate Cancer UK | Prostate Cancer UK

Screening for prostate cancer and the PSA test

Screening is a process to try and detect serious illnesses like cancer either before they occur or when they are very early and not causing symptoms. Examples include smear tests for cervical cancer and bowel cancer tests such as stool tests which are sent in the post.

There is currently no screening programme for prostate cancer in the UK. It’s important that the benefits of any screening programme outweigh the disadvantages. But it isn’t clear that screening all men for prostate cancer would have more benefits than disadvantages.

Some studies have found that screening could mean fewer men die from prostate cancer. But it would also mean that:

• some men would have a biopsy, which could cause side effects
• a large number of men would be diagnosed with a slow-growing cancer that wouldn’t cause any symptoms or shorten their life
• some of these men would have treatment they didn’t need, which could cause side effects.

The main test we currently have available to screen for prostate cancer is the PSA blood test. This looks for a protein in the blood that is produced in the prostate. The level increases as you age and/or when your prostate is larger. It is usually, but not always, increased when you have prostate cancer. The PSA is good and can identify many cases of prostate cancer. However other things can cause it to rise that are not cancer. This may mean that people have unnecessary worry and further tests to check for cancer. In other cases the PSA may be normal even though a person does have cancer.

More information about the PSA test is available on the Patient Info website.

There are some instances where we may recommend having a PSA test.

These include:

• In men who have symptoms that suggest a urinary issue
• When it has been advised by a specialist for monitoring a prostate condition
• In people who are at higher risk of developing prostate cancer – this is especially true if you have more than one risk factor e.g. being a black man over 45 years of age with a father who had prostate cancer

For men not in those categories we would advise you consider the pros and cons of having a PSA test.

The Prostate Cancer UK website has lots of useful information to help you decide.

What next?

If you have read the above information and would like to proceed with having a PSA blood test please contact the surgery to arrange this.

If you have any of the symptoms listed above we strongly suggest you book a GP appointment to discuss this as well.

Published: Nov 13, 2024