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Signs and Symptoms of Prostate Cancer
Most prostate cancers are found early, through screening.
Early prostate cancer usually causes no symptoms. While not common, symptoms of early prostate cancer might include:
- Problems urinating, including a slow or weak urinary stream or the need to urinate more often, especially at night
- Blood in the urine or semen
Along with the symptoms above, more advanced prostate cancer can sometimes cause other symptoms, such as:
- Trouble getting an erection (erectile dysfunction or ED)
- Pain in the hips, back (spine), chest (ribs), or other areas, from cancer that has spread to the bones
- Weakness or numbness in the legs or feet, or even loss of bladder or bowel control, from cancer in the spine pressing on the spinal cord
- Weight loss
- Feeling very tired
Most of these symptoms are more likely to be caused by something other than prostate cancer. For example, trouble urinating is much more often caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a non-cancerous growth of the prostate.
Still, it’s important to tell your health care provider if you have any of these symptoms so that the cause can be found and treated, if needed. Some men might need more tests to check for prostate cancer.
- Written by
- References
The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team
Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as editors and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
National Cancer Institute. Physician Data Query (PDQ). Prostate Cancer Treatment. 2023. Accessed at https://www.cancer.gov/types/prostate/hp/prostate-treatment-pdq on July 12, 2023.
Taplin ME, Smith JA. Clinical presentation and diagnosis of prostate cancer. UpToDate. 2023. Accessed at https://www.uptodate.com/contents/clinical-presentation-and-diagnosis-of-prostate-cancer on July 12, 2023.
Last Revised: November 22, 2023
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