Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK and every year, over 40,000 men are diagnosed with this form of cancer. In the UK, over 250,000 men are currently living with the disease.

Men with early prostate cancer are unlikely to have any symptoms which can often make it difficult to detect. Symptoms usually only occur when the cancer is large enough to put pressure on the urethra (the tube that drains urine from the bladder). In men over the age of 50, the prostate gland often gets larger due to a non-cancerous condition called benign prostatic hyperplasia or hypertrophy (BPH). The symptoms of both benign enlargement of the prostate gland and malignant tumours (cancer) are similar and can include any of the following symptoms: difficulty passing urine, passing urine more frequently than usual, especially at night, pain when passing urine or blood in the urine. If you have any of these symptoms it’s important to get them checked by your doctor, but remember, most enlargements of the prostate are not cancer.

If a GP has any concerns, further tests are recommended and if a diagnosis of Prostate cancer is confirmed, patients will embark on the treatment programme recommended by their consultant oncologist which could include radiotherapy, hormonal therapy, chemotherapy or surgery.

Hot flushes can be one of the unwelcome side-effects of treatments for prostate cancer. Our Consultant Oncologist Dr Simon Hughes, and our Consultant in Palliative Medicine Dr Shaheen Khan, regularly see patients with this symptom and can offer a number of treatments to help men with this condition.

UK Medicines Information (UKMi) pharmacists have recently published an updated summary of the evidence for various treatments available – if you would like to discuss this, or any other aspect of prostate cancer management in more detail, please contact the Independent Oncology team at info@independentoncology.org.uk.

For further information about Prostate cancer visit the Macmillan website