What It Is
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. In the UK, 36,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year 4. Prostate cancer can develop when cells in the prostate gland start to grow in an uncontrolled way. In most cases this is a slow growing cancer that men will be unaware of throughout their lifetime because it may never cause any symptoms or problems. However, some men will have a fast growing cancer that needs treatment to prevent or delay it spreading outside the prostate gland.
The information on this page comes from our booklet 'Know your prostate: a guide to common prostate problems'. You can order printed publications about the prostate gland and prostate cancer from our publications page.
References used in the production of this page
4. Office for National Statistics http://www.statistics.gov.uk. The Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit http://www.wales.nhs.uk. ISD Scotland www.isdscotland.org. N. Ireland Cancer Registry www.qub.ac.uk