As Breast Cancer Awareness Month closes, November turns attention to men’s health. The Movember movement, which encourages men to grow moustaches to raise awareness and funds, focuses on prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention. For nurses, it’s a chance to encourage men, who often avoid health services, to talk about their health.
Prostate cancer by the numbers
- Prostate cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in men worldwide, according to WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
- In many sub-Saharan African countries, it is the leading cause of cancer death among men, and diagnoses often come late.
- Men of Black African and Caribbean descent have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer and dying from it. Prostate Cancer UK estimates about 1 in 4 Black men in the UK will get prostate cancer in their lifetime, compared with about 1 in 8 men overall.
- Risk also rises with age (mainly over 50) and with a family history (father or brother with prostate cancer, or close relatives with certain breast/ovarian cancers or BRCA gene changes).
Symptoms
Early prostate cancer often causes no symptoms. When symptoms occur, they may include:
- Needing to urinate more often, especially at night.
- Difficulty starting, weak flow, or feeling the bladder hasn’t emptied.
- Blood in urine or semen (less common).
- Advanced disease: bone pain (back, hips), weight loss, tiredness.
Urinary symptoms are more commonly caused by benign prostate enlargement, but should always be checked.
The PSA test: benefits and limits
The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test can help detect prostate cancer early, but it isn’t perfect: it can be raised for other reasons (infection, enlargement), and it can find slow-growing cancers that would never cause harm, leading to anxiety and over-treatment. Recommendations vary between countries. Many guidelines advise informed, shared decision-making, particularly for higher-risk men such as Black men and those with a family history, often from around age 45. Newer approaches, such as MRI before biopsy, have improved accuracy.
Why men delay
- Fear of diagnosis and of the rectal examination.
- Fear about effects on erections and continence.
- Beliefs that seeking help is weak, or that it’s “just ageing”.
- Cost and access.
- Stigma and myths, such as cancer being a curse.
How nurses can help
- Ask men over 45–50 about urinary symptoms during routine contacts (blood pressure checks, diabetes reviews).
- Give balanced information about PSA testing.
- Reach men where they are: workplaces, places of worship, football events, barbershops.
- Involve partners: women often encourage men to seek care.
- Talk openly about sexual and urinary side effects of treatment and the support available.
- Support men after diagnosis: treatment options include active surveillance, surgery, radiotherapy and hormone therapy, each with side effects to discuss.
Also this month: testicular cancer and mental health
- Testicular cancer mainly affects younger men (15–49). Encourage monthly self-checks for lumps, swelling or heaviness.
- Men’s mental health: men die by suicide at higher rates than women in most countries. Ask, listen, and know referral routes. See our suicide risk guide and recognising depression.
Related: How to become an oncology nurse · Breast cancer awareness guide
Based on WHO/IARC cancer data, Prostate Cancer UK, NICE NG131 and national screening guidance. Educational content.