Prostate%20cancer Signs and Symptoms
Introduction
- Second most common cancer in men; one of the most common cancers in men >50 years of age
Signs and Symptoms
- Weak urinary stream, incomplete bladder emptying
- Polyuria, nocturia
- Hematuria
- Erectile dysfunction
- Pelvic pain, back pain, chest pain
- Lower extremity weakness or numbness
- Loss of bladder or bowel control
Risk Factors
- Age (increased risk in men >50 years old)
- Positive family history: 1st- or 2nd-degree relatives diagnosed with metastatic prostate, ovarian, breast (female ≤45 years old), colorectal, endometrial (≤50 years old) or pancreatic cancer, and those with ≥2 1st- or 2nd-degree relatives diagnosed with prostate, breast, colorectal or endometrial cancer at any age
- Ethnicity (African ancestry, Ashkenazi Jewish descent)
- Chemical exposures (toxic combustion products)
- Genetic mutations: Breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 (BRCA1), breast cancer susceptibility gene 2 (BRCA2), ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM), checkpoint kinase 2 (CHEK2), homeobox B13 (HOXB13), epithelial cellular adhesion molecule (EPCAM), nibrin (NBN), tumor protein 53 (TP53), partner and localizer of BRCA2 (PALB2), deoxyribonucleicacid (DNA) mismatch repair genes [mutS homolog 2 (MSH2), mutL homolog 1 (MLH1), Lynch syndrome, mutS homolog 6 (MSH6), post-meiotic segregation increased 2 (PMS2)], insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)
- Other risk factors under research include a positive medical history of inflammation of the prostate gland [eg prostatitis, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), proliferative inflammatory atrophy (PIA)] and vasectomy