As a male, or even out of concern for the men in your life, you should know the symptoms of prostate cancer. With reports of 1 out of 8 men being diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime in the United States (US), learning how this cancer can affect you and your loved ones is important.
What is prostate cancer?
Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer for men in the US.
It begins in the gland cells of the prostate in men, which is walnut-shaped and sized, located between the bladder and the penis. The function of the prostate is to make the liquid in semen – seminal fluid – that helps transport sperm.
When compared with other cancers, prostate cancer is different and can take longer to detect, because prostate tumors do not spread to other parts of the body as quickly. Therefore, symptoms may not be revealed for years.
Prostate cancer, at the most basic level, can be caused by changes in the DNA of a normal prostate cell because the DNA functions as the instructions that tell a cell what to do.
Day 1: Just Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer stages
There are four stages of prostate cancer – five if you begin with stage 0 (zero). Using roman numerals, “I” is least advanced, while “IV” is the furthest advanced.
For instance, in Stage I cancer, the cancer is growing in the prostate but hasn’t spread beyond it. This may even be the case at Stage II but abnormalities may be more detectable.
At Stage IV, the cancer may have spread to