Male Cancer Awareness week
Men are being encouraged to check for signs of male cancers
Its the start of Male cancer awareness week.
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Having overtaken lung cancer, prostate cancer is now the most common cancer in men, with more than 35,000 diagnoses every year in the UK, most of which are in men over 60.
The prostate is a small gland the size of a walnut which surrounds the tube which carries urine from the bladder to the penis. The gland usually enlarges as men get older, interfering with the urination process.
Prostate cancer can also cause enlargement of the prostate gland, interfering with the flow of urine.
The same symptoms can also signify conditions less serious than prostate cancer such as a kidney infection or a non-cancerous enlarged prostate gland.
If you have any of the following symptoms it is important to get checked out by your GP:
- An immediacy to pass urine
- Passing urine more often and/or at night
- Difficulty in getting the flow of urine started
- A pain or burning when passing urine
- A feeling of not having emptied the bladder fully
- Blood in urine or semen
Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men aged 15 to 44, although rarer than prostate cancer with about 2,000 new cases in the UK each year.
The best way to check for testicular cancer is to regularly examine your testicles for any abnormalities and look out for:
- Lumps
- Enlargements
- A feeling of heaviness in the scrotum
- A dull ache in the abdomen or groin
- A sudden collection of fluid in the scrotum
- Growth or tenderness of the upper chest
It is important to remember that most lumps are non-cancerous. However, don’t just wait and hope that they disappear – get checked out because if caught early enough 99% of testicular cancer cases are curable.
source: www.norfolk.nhs.uk