If you experience any side effects, talk to your doctor, pharmacist or nurse. This includes any possible side effect not listed within this website and the patient information leaflet in the pack.
You can also report side effects directly via the Yellow Card Scheme at http://www.mhra.gov.uk/yellowcard. By reporting side effects you can help provide more information on the safety of this medicine.
This page aims to answer common questions about prostate cancer. Such as:
What is prostate cancer? How common is prostate cancer? What and where is the prostate? What does the prostate do?
Prostate cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the prostate gland. It is where the cells of the prostate start to grow abnormally or in an uncontrolled way. This can happen in multiple areas of the prostate at same time.1
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK. 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, and more than 52,000 men are diagnosed every year7.
One of the risk factors for prostate cancer is older age.1 A third of all new cases of prostate cancer occur among men who are 75 years or older according to Cancer Research UK1
Having a relative with prostate cancer is another possible risk factor for the disease.2
Certain ethnic groups are also at higher risk for prostate cancer than others.1 Notably people of Black-Caribbean or Black-African ancestry more often have prostate cancer than people of White or Asian backgrounds.1,2
The prostate is a small gland that is part of the male anatomy. A gland is a type of organ that produces and release substances that have a specific function in the body.3
The prostate is often referred to as being about the size of a walnut which is roughly 2–3 cm across.2,4
It can be found just below the bladder and surrounds the tube (urethra) through which urine (pee) and semen are released.2,4
The prostate plays a role in reproduction. Its main role is to produce a fluid that helps to make semen, which is the fluid that carries sperm from the testes.3,5 Additionally, the prostate’s muscles help to move semen into and down the urethra during ejaculation.5
The prostate fluid contains a protein called prostate-specific antigen (PSA). This protein is marker for prostate health and can be used to detect prostate cancer and monitor the effects of prostate cancer treatment.4
The male sex hormone testosterone is central to how the prostate works. This hormone is made in the testes and converted to its biologically active form in the prostate.5
Testosterone is important because it helps prostate cancer cells to grow.2 It also has an important influence on muscle strength, sex drive (libido) and the ability to get and maintain an erection.
Prostate cancer is generally described based on how far it has spread in the body.2
When the prostate cancer can only be found inside the prostate gland it is referred to as localised prostate cancer.2
Localised prostate cancer can be described as being low risk, intermediate risk or high risk. These risk categories refer to how quickly the prostate cancer is likely to grow and spread to other parts of the body in the next few years.2 These categories also help doctors decide on the prostate cancer treatment to give an individual patient.
Locally advanced prostate cancer is where the prostate cancer has started to grow outside of the prostate gland and invade nearby organs.2 Locally advanced means that the cancer has not yet spread to that far away from its original site in the prostate.
This can include the seminal vesicles which are two small glands that sit either side of the prostate gland.
Metastatic prostate cancer is where the prostate cancer is now growing outside of the prostate gland further away from the prostate itself. It means that there are new growths (metastases) in other parts of the body.2
Common sites for prostate cancer to spread to include the bones and lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are part of the immune system and are present throughout the body such as the groin, neck and armpit.6
