Prostate cancer is very common, with more than 35,000 cases diagnosed each year and many more passing undetected. Fortunately, prostate cancer tumours are generally slow-growing, so once symptoms are detected treatment is usually highly effective (around 70% of sufferers of cancer restricted to the prostate gland live beyond five years of diagnosis).

Its slow-growing nature can be bad news for some, though, since many men don’t experience any symptoms until the cancer is at an advanced stage. If it reaches an advanced state, spreading to other parts of the body, it is much harder to treat and more likely to be fatal. Such cancer cannot usually be treated, though it can be kept at bay for many years.

So if the symptoms are not often present until it reaches an advanced state, how can you tell if you have it and take steps to have it treated?

The prostate gland secretes a substance called PSA (prostate-specific antigen). If there are high levels of this PSA in the bloodstream, it could indicate prostate cancer, or it could indicate something else like prostatitis, or an enlarged prostate gland (neither of which are cancerous). A blood test can therefore give a good indication of whether there is a problem or not. A doctor who carries out such a test will also look at how quickly the PSA levels increase over what period of time, so further blood tests may be necessary if an initial result seems ominous.

It is important to remember that low levels of PSA will not always mean that there is no cancer – it is possible to have prostate cancer without elevated levels of PSA. As the test is normally combined with a rectal examination, though, they give a good chance of spotting anything developing.

In order to decide whether to test for PSA, doctors generally bear in mind different risk factors. These are:

Family history: you have almost double the risk of contracting the disease if a close male relative has had it.

Ethnicity: prostate cancer is much more common in black men, and in South Asian men who live in the UK.

Diet: obesity plays a role in the development of prostate cancer, so maintaining a controlled, balanced diet can reduce the risks of developing the disease. A high fat diet may contribute to the development of the cancer. Eating a diet rich in lycopenes (which are found in things like tomatoes, beans, blueberries, red oranges, spinach and watermelon) can reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer.

Sedentary lifestyle: it may be possible to reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer by taking regular exercise.

Age: the risk of prostate cancer increases year on year after the age of about 50.

At present, there isn’t a standard screening programme in the UK like there is for several other common diseases. Early detection equates to better prospects of successful treatment, though, so there is much pressure from organisations like Cancer Research UK for a routine screening programme to be undertaken. It is possible to request a PSA test on the NHS and you may want to ask for one if you have any of the above risk factors (from about age 50, or 40 if you are black or of South Asian heritage) or if you have a family history of prostate cancer.