According to the National Cancer Institute, prostate cancer is the second most common cancer affecting men in America. All men are at risk for prostate cancer, but the risk is highest for black men over age 65.

Symptoms of prostate cancer include:

needing to urinate often;

not being able to urinate;

trouble starting to urinate or holding it back;

weak or stop-and-go flow;

pain or burning when urinating;

blood in urine or semen;

painful ejaculation; and

regular pain in lower back, hips or upper thighs.

These symptoms are not only caused by prostate cancer, however. They also can be caused by medical problems that are not as serious. Tell your doctor right away if you have any of these symptoms.

What Is the Prostate?

The prostate is a gland in a man's reproductive system. The gland, located near the bladder and rectum, creates and stores a component of semen. It surrounds the urethra - a tube that allows urine and semen to pass through the penis.

In a healthy man, the prostate is the size of a walnut. If the prostate grows, however, it can slow or stop the flow of urine. This growth may occur when a man gets older and cause benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which is not cancer but can cause many of the same symptoms.

An inflammation, or swelling, of the prostate may also cause symptoms of prostate cancer, although it is not cancer. This is a medical problem called prostatitis.

Finding Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer can be found by your doctor in two different ways. One way is the digital rectal exam (DRE). The other way is a blood test for prostate specific antigen (PSA).

With DRE, a healthcare provider feels the prostate gland through the rectum with his finger to check for hard or lumpy spots.

PSA is a protein made by the prostate gland which helps make semen watery and allow sperm cells to swim around. Although PSA is generally found in semen, it also can be found in the blood system. Too much PSA (more than 4 nanograms per milliliter, usually indicated as ng/mL on lab results) can be a sign of trouble, but it doesn't always mean that a person has prostate cancer. BPH or prostatitis can also cause the level of PSA to be too high.

If a man has symptoms of prostate cancer and his PSA level is high, a healthcare provider may order a biopsy. This means a sample tissue is taken from the prostate gland and tested for cancer. If cancer is found, the prostate gland may need to be removed by surgery. This will depend on the grade of the cancer tumor. The grade tells a doctor how fast the cancer is going to grow. If cancer is not found then there are medicines a doctor can prescribe to treat BPH and prostatitis.

Treatment Methods

There are different ways to treat prostate cancer, including surgery, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy and watchful waiting.

Surgery is common for cancer that has not spread beyond the prostate, which is called the "early stage" of the disease. There are various types of surgery as well.

Radiation therapy uses very strong beams of light, or rays, to kill cancer cells. This method can be used to stop cancer cells from growing in their early stages, as the main treatment for fighting advanced stages of prostate cancer, or to kill any cancer cells that may still be in the area after surgery.

Hormonal therapy prevents the cancer cells from receiving the male hormones they need to grow. This way of treating prostate cancer also is referred to as systemic therapy. It is commonly used to treat cancer that has spread beyond the prostate gland.

Watchful waiting is used when the side effects from the other treatments would make the patient feel worse than he already does from the symptoms of prostate cancer. Watchful waiting is a good choice for a man with another medical problem that makes other treatments a bad idea, or if the cancer was found in its early stage and is growing slowly.

More Information

Because the symptoms of prostate cancer can be confused with less serious problems, it is important to see a healthcare provider right away. For more information, visit the American Cancer Society and National Cancer Institute Web sites at www.cancer.org and www.cancer.gov, respectively.

Stephanie De Ritis is assistant editor at ADVANCE.

The purpose of this patient education handout is to further explain or remind you about a medical condition. This handout is a general guide only. If you have specific questions, be sure to discuss them with your healthcare provider. This handout may be reproduced for distribution to patients.