HOW TO SPOT SYMPTOMS OF PROSTATE CANCER

WITH FORMER US PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN BEING DIAGNOSED WITH THE DISEASE, LISA SALMON ASKS A UROLOGIST WHAT THE SIGNS ARE, AND THE PROGNOSIS

- LISA SALMON

THE office of former US president Joe Biden recently announced that he has been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer, which has spread to his bones.

Prostate Cancer UK (PCUK) says the disease is the most common cancer in men in the UK with around one in eight males getting it. The risk is doubled to one in four for black men.

There are estimated to be 510,000 men living with or after prostate cancer in the UK, but more then 12,000 men die from the disease every year.

Sophie Smith, a Prostate Cancer UK senior specialist nurse, says: "With prostate cancer, earlier diagnosis saves lives. But over 21,000 men are currently diagnosed at stage three and four [later stages] every year. This has to change."

What are the symptoms?