Symptoms can be vague or easy to miss so it makes sense to be aware of your prostate's health and have regular health checks so you can spot any problems at an early stage.

Having a small amount of cancer within your prostate is actually very common.

Around one in three men over the age of 50 have some cancerous cells within their prostate, and most men over the age of 80 have a small area of cancer in their prostate. Most of these cancers grow very slowly and do not cause problems, but for a small number of men the cancer can grow more quickly and become a risk to health.

Symptoms

The symptoms of prostate cancer are similar to other prostate problems and include:

• Pain when urinating;
• Needing to urinate frequently – including at night;
• Feeling a sudden, almost irresistible need to urinate;
• Having a weak stream particularly when starting or stopping urinating;
• A hesitant start to urinating;
• Needing to strain to urinate;
• Pain on ejaculation;
• Lower back pain or stiffness in the pelvis; and
• Having blood in your urine.

In its early stage prostate cancer often does not produce any symptoms.