What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?

Prostate cancer may have no obvious symptoms in the early stages. As the disease progresses, symptoms such as difficulty urinating, hematuria, and bone pain may occur. The main symptoms of prostate cancer include abnormal urination, hematospermia or hematuria, pelvic pain, erectile dysfunction, and metastasis symptoms.

1. Abnormal urination

When prostate tumors compress the urethra, patients may experience symptoms such as frequent urination, urgency, thin urine stream, and difficulty urinating. Some patients may experience interrupted urination or increased nocturia, which may lead to urinary retention in severe cases. These symptoms are similar to benign prostatic hyperplasia and need to be differentiated by prostate-specific antigen testing and digital rectal examination.

2. Hematospermia or hematuria

When the tumor invades the prostate blood vessels or urethral mucosa, blood may be mixed in the semen or urine. The hematospermia appears pink or dark red, and the hematuria may appear as initial hematuria or terminal hematuria. Long-term repeated bleeding may lead to anemia, fatigue, pale complexion and other symptoms.

3. Pelvic pain

When prostate cancer invades surrounding nerves or tissues, persistent dull pain will occur in the perineum and sacrum area. Some patients experience increased pain during defecation, which may be accompanied by changes in defecation habits. Advanced tumors that invade the bladder trigone may also cause bladder irritation symptoms.

4. Erectile dysfunction

Tumor growth can damage the neurovascular bundles that control erections, resulting in decreased erection hardness or the complete inability to achieve erection. This type of dysfunction is usually progressive and poorly responsive to conventional drug treatments such as phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors. Some patients will also experience loss of sexual desire.

5. Metastasis symptoms

When bone metastasis occurs, pain in the spine, pelvis, ribs and other parts of the body is common, and pathological fractures may occur. Lymphatic metastasis can cause edema of the lower limbs, and lung metastasis may cause cough and hemoptysis. Some patients will suffer from pancytopenia due to bone marrow suppression, manifesting symptoms such as susceptibility to infection and bleeding tendency.

Men over the age of 50 should undergo regular prostate cancer screening, including digital rectal examination and PSA testing. When abnormal urination or pelvic discomfort occurs, you should seek medical advice as soon as possible, avoid eating spicy and irritating foods, and maintain moderate physical activity. Confirmed patients need to cooperate with doctors to develop individualized treatment plans and conduct regular reviews to monitor changes in their condition.