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Macmillan Cancer Support has shared advice on six common symptoms of prostate cancer after Joe Biden announced his diagnosis. The former US president, 82, revealed her has an aggressive form of the disease with a Gleason score of nine out of 10. This means the affected cells look very abnormal and the cancer is likely to grow quickly.
A statement from Mr Biden’s office said the cancer had also spread to the bone, but “appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management”. Mr Biden was diagnosed after “experiencing increasing urinary symptoms”. According to Macmillan, symptoms only happen when the cancer is large enough to press on the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder.
If prostate cancer is at an early stage it may not cause any symptoms.
The prostate gland can also become enlarged due to a prostate condition called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which is non-cancerous.
The symptoms of benign (non-cancerous) prostate conditions and prostate cancer are similar. They can include:
- needing to pee more often than usual, especially at night
- difficulty peeing – for example, a weak flow or having to strain to start peeing
- feeling like you have not completely emptied your bladder
- an urgent need to pee
- blood in your urine or semen
- rarely, pain when peeing or ejaculating
The charity advised anyone with any of these symptoms to have them checked by a doctor.
GPs can do tests to find out if referral to a specialist doctor is needed. Macmillan added that metastatic prostate cancer, which Mr Biden has, is cancer that has spread or come back.
The charity explained: “It is usually used to describe cancer that cannot be cured.
“Doctors sometimes use other words to describe advanced cancer. For example, they may use metastatic or secondary cancer to describe cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.
“Depending on the cancer type, it may also be called stage four cancer. For example, prostate cancer can often go to the bones.
“This is called advanced prostate cancer (or metastatic prostate cancer).”
