What is prostate cancer?

MORE than 47,500 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year in the UK – and Jools Holland has just revealed he’s one of them. The musician and TV star was diagnosed in 2014 but is only speaking about it now.

Holland, 64, said it’s “really important for men to be aware of the facts of prostate cancer and understand their risk”. Thankfully, Holland’s cancer was successfully treated. Here’s what you need to know...

WHAT IS PROSTATE CANCER?

Prostate cancer is the UK’s most common male cancer. It affects the prostate – a walnut-sized gland that sits beneath the bladder and surrounds the urethra in men.

AM I AT RISK OF PROSTATE CANCER?

Prostate cancer is a disease we tend to see in older age groups [over-50s], but there are exceptions, as with any form of cancer). Some people might have a higher risk, points out Emma Craske, Senior Specialist Nurse at Prostate Cancer UK.

“One in eight men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime and that rises to one in four for black men, so black ethnicity is an increased risk factor.”

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF PROSTATE CANCER?

If you do get symptoms, remember these things are often caused by other far less sinister causes. However, the advice is always to get things checked.

It’s often about urinary symptoms and changes to how you pee. So frequency, where you need to go more often. Hesitancy, where you’re standing over the toilet bowl and a period of time will pass before you’re able to pass urine, and ‘dribbling’, where you’ve finished but find you’re still passing using when you walk away.

HOW IS PROSTATE CANCER DIAGNOSED?

First, your doctor will chat through your symptoms and history with you, and there’s a PSA blood test. Then we pull make a clinical decision as to whether you need to be referred.

HOW IS PROSTATE CANCER TREATED?

Caught early, prostate cancer is generally very treatable. And even with advanced prostate cancer, treatments have come a long way.