What are the signs and symptoms of prostate cancer?

Early prostate cancer usually causes no symptoms. Some advanced prostate cancers can slow or weaken your urinary stream or make you need to urinate more often, especially at night. But non-cancerous diseases of the prostate, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) are a more common cause of these symptoms.

If the prostate cancer is advanced, you might develop blood in your urine (hematuria) or trouble getting an erection (impotence). Advanced prostate cancer commonly spreads to the bones, which can cause pain in the hips, back (spine), ribs (chest), or other areas. Sometimes cancer that has spread to the bones of the spine will press on the spinal cord or its nerves, causing weakness or numbness in the legs or feet, or even loss of bladder or bowel control.

Other diseases can also cause many of these same symptoms. It is important to tell your doctor about any of them so that the cause can be determined and treated, if needed.