In early stages, prostate cancer can often be treated very successfully. However if it progresses to spread to the surrounding bone, then a cure is no longer possible, and treatment can only prolong and increase quality of life.
As prostate cancer progresses, symptoms such as painful urination, irregular urine flow and even blood in the urine in some rare cases begin to become apparent. These can be caused by many others things and do not mean someone has prostate cancer, but should still be checked by a doctor or GP. If left untreated, the cancer can spread to the surrounding bone rendering it un-curable. In prostate cancer this is often a slow process and can take up to fifteen years. Because of this, many men who have prostate cancer die of different causes before they are killed by the cancer.
In the late stages of prostate cancer, a patient may show the following symptoms:
• weight loss
• Tiredness
• Pains
Prostate cancer also causes symptoms such as a difficulty in achieving an erection and painful ejaculation, although these do not necessarily mean the cancer is in its late stages.
Prostate cancer is the second most likely cause of cancer related death in the UK, although successful treatments have become more and more common in the last twenty years. This is shown by the fact that survival rates have jumped nearly 40% between 1975 and 2001 (according to the NHS). Prostate cancer late stages are most common amongst men of over 50.
