protaste cancer
Sir Chris Hoy, six-time Olympic cycling champion, has revealed he has advanced prostate cancer.
The 48-year-old said the cancer has spread to his bones and is terminal. Tributes have poured in and charities say raising awareness of the disease could help save other lives. Prostate cancers can behave very differently. While some can spread quickly, others are very slow-growing and may need minimal or even no treatment.
What is prostate cancer?
The prostate is a gland that is about the size of a walnut that sits just below the bladder within the pelvis.
It surrounds the urethra – the tube that takes urine out of the body through the penis. Prostate cancer – abnormal and uncontrolled cell growth – often develops slowly. There may be no signs or symptoms for years and some people never develop any problems from it. But in others, the cancer can be aggressive and deadly. Prostate cancer that’s detected early has the best chance for successful treatment.
How common is prostate cancer?
One in eight men will get prostate cancer at some point in their lives, says Prostate Cancer UK. It is most common in older age – among men over 75. Cases in the under-50s are rare. Your risk of prostate cancer is higher if you have a close relative – a father, brother, grandfather, or uncle – who has had prostate cancer. It is also more common in black men.
What symptoms should people check for?
The common ones are:
- needing to urinate more frequently
- particularly at night difficulty starting to urinate, weak flow and it takes a long time
- blood in urine or semen.
