Cancers that are completely contained within the prostate gland are known as early prostate cancer.

Men with early prostate cancer may not have any symptoms at all. Prostate cancers usually only cause symptoms when they are large enough to press on the urinary tube (urethra) or disturb the bladder. For that reason the symptoms of prostate cancer, when they do appear, are very similar to the symptoms of simple enlargement of the prostate (BPH):

• pain or difficulty when passing urine
• passing urine more frequently than usual, and especially at night
• rarely, blood in the urine or sperm.

Note: Most men with these symptoms will not have prostate cancer.

Prostate cancers can be very slow growing and even if the cancer cells have spread into the tissues around the prostate (known as locally advanced prostate cancer), they may not cause any problems with passing urine. Sometimes a prostate cancer can spread to the bones. This is known as metastatic or secondary bone cancer and symptoms might include pain in the affected bone (most commonly the back, hips or pelvis).