Around 32,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year. It differs from most other cancers in the body, in that small areas of cancer within the prostate are very common and may not grow or cause any problems for many years. It is often it is diagnosed during a routine checkup so most men that are diagnosed often have no warning signs.
About one in three men over the age of 50 have some cancer cells within their prostate and nearly all men over the age of 80 have a small area of prostate cancer. It may cause pain, difficulty in urinating, erectile dysfunction and other symptoms, but early prostate cancer usually causes no symptoms.
Since the first edition of this book was published in 2003, there have been several groundbreaking studies completed that have changed the way that certain categories of the disease are treated. This new edition of the book includes sections on radiotherapy, which is now known to be an effective treatment for men with residual prostate cancer after surgery, and a heavily updated chapter on Advanced Disease.