The male prostate gland helps semen move in the vagina toward the uterus by nourishing and transporting sperm with its seminal fluid. The Mayo Clinic states cancer of the prostate gland is a relatively common disease in men, reporting that about one out of every six men in the United States get it. It is treatable, especially if found early in its development, before it can spread to areas other than the prostate.
Urinary
Benign prostate conditions such as benign prostate hyperplasia tend to be a more common cause of urinary symptoms than prostate cancer, but urination problems do occur in up to 5 percent of those men who have a malignancy. These types of symptoms may include a reduction in how much force affects your urine stream, stopping and starting during urination and difficulties when trying to urinate. Another similar symptom is the increase in frequency of urination, particularly during the night. If the cancer spreads out from the prostate to the surrounding area, it can cause symptoms such as semen or urine that contains blood.
Swelling
As prostate cancer spreads outward and into pelvic lymph nodes, two other symptoms can occur. The first is local to the area of the prostate in that you may have pelvic area discomfort from the spread of the cancer. The other is not as obvious. It manifests as swelling in one or both legs.
Bones
In the advanced stages of prostate cancer, the malignancy can affect your bones. You may, for example, experience pain in your bones that is continual and does not disappear on its own or with topical ointments. You also may experience fractures or breaks in your bones as the cancer eats away at the bone tissue. This also can produce weaknesses in your spinal column and cause spinal compression. This can, itself, cause a great deal of pain as well as make it difficult to walk. Prostate cancer also can present itself by causing you pain in your upper thighs, hips or lower back.
Sexual
A symptom of both prostate cancer and some of the treatments for it is impotence or the inability to have an erection of the penis, the National Cancer Institute states.
