Introduction

Prostate cancer is serious, but it usually grows slowly. You don't have to rush into a decision about treatment.

We've brought together the best research about prostate cancer and weighed up the evidence about how to treat it. You can use our information to talk to your doctor and decide which treatments are best for you.

If you have prostate cancer, it means that some of the cells in your prostate gland have started to grow out of control, invading and destroying healthy cells. The disease is serious, but it usually grows very slowly. Most men live without symptoms for many years, and some never get symptoms.

Only men have a prostate. It makes the fluid that carries sperm out of your penis when you have an orgasm. This disease is common among older men. As you age, your chances of getting cancer of the prostate rise.

If you or someone close to you has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, you may feel frightened and anxious about what lies ahead. Deciding on the best treatment can be difficult. Be certain to take your time and don't rush into a decision. Learn all you can about the condition and how it is treated, and talk to your doctor about the options open to you.

Key points for men with prostate cancer

• Prostate cancer is a serious disease, but it usually grows slowly. This means you can live for years without symptoms.

• If you are older when you get prostate cancer, you may never have any symptoms. You have a good chance of surviving this type of cancer.

• There are several treatments available for prostate cancer, but they can have serious side effects.

• If you have early prostate cancer that has not spread, you have a good chance of surviving, whether or not you have treatment.

• If your cancer has spread to other organs nearby, your chances of surviving the disease are still good. Some treatments can help you live longer.

What is the prostate?

To understand prostate cancer and its treatments, it helps to know more about the prostate. The symptoms of the disease will also make more sense if you know how the prostate is linked to other parts of your body.

The prostate is a small, solid gland, about the size of a chestnut. It makes the milky fluid that comes out of your penis when you have an orgasm. The fluid from the prostate helps keep your sperm healthy and also helps them to swim. To read in detail about the prostate and what it does, see An in-depth look at the prostate.

• Your prostate lies at the base of your bladder, the sac that holds your urine.

• The front of your prostate is wrapped around your urethra, the tube that runs down from your bladder and through your penis. The urethra carries urine and semen (your sperm and the fluid they are carried in) out of your body. Any change in the size or shape of the prostate can pinch this tube, making it difficult for you to urinate.

• The back of your prostate presses against your rectum. This is why your doctor examines your rectum if there's a problem with your prostate. He or she can feel your prostate gland through your rectum wall.

• The prostate is connected to two other glands, called seminal vesicles, which sit like small bunches of grapes on either side of the prostate. These glands also make some of the fluid that comes out when you ejaculate at orgasm. Tubes called ejaculatory ducts run from these vesicles through the prostate, carrying the fluid to the urethra.

• Two bundles of nerves that control your erections run on either side of the prostate. Because they are so close to the prostate, these nerves can be damaged by surgery on the gland.

• The prostate is also linked to your testicles, which lie in a pouch of skin on either side of your penis and make your sperm. The sperm are carried by tubes from the testicles to the ejaculatory ducts, through the prostate and into the urethra. The prostate adds its fluid to the sperm when they reach the urethra.^[1]