What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?They can be easily confused with those of other more common conditions.
September 17, 2025
By C.W. Schmidt, Editor, Harvard Medical School Annual Report on Prostate Diseases- Reviewed by Marc B. Garnick, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Medical School Annual Report on Prostate Diseases; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
What are the first symptoms a man might notice if he has early-stage prostate cancer?
I first want to mention that most men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer — including many with advanced forms of the disease — do not present with symptoms. When symptoms do appear in a man with early-stage disease, they affect his ability to urinate. Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), as we call them, include urinary frequency, urgency, difficulty starting or stopping a stream, getting up repeatedly at night to pee, or feeling like you’re never able to fully empty your bladder. LUTS can develop if a tumor grows large enough to physically obstruct the urethra, which is the tube that carries urine out of the body. The diseased prostate can also push up against the bladder, thereby lessening its capacity to hold fluid.
But more often than not, urinary symptoms result from other problems with the prostate. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), for instance, is a natural enlargement of the prostate that affects most men as they get older. Some men develop LUTS if the prostate and surrounding tissues become inflamed; this is called prostatitis. And if a man experiences burning sensations while urinating, then he likely has a problem with his bladder, not his prostate. Men who experience any of these urinary symptoms should be evaluated by a doctor.
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