Thursday, 27 November 2025, 20:07
One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, according to the Spanish society of medical oncology (Seom). In Malaga province, 1,222 cases were detected in 2024, almost 3% more than in 2023. It is the third most diagnosed type of cancer in the province after lung and breast cancer.
As with so many other diseases, the key to beating it is early diagnosis. “Prostate cancer has no symptoms in its early stages, which is why regular check-ups are essential. A simple analysis can save your life,” Dr Fernando Gómez Sancha, director of the institute of advanced urological surgery (Icua), says. Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed tumour among Spanish men and the fourth most common cause of death in the country. More than 32,000 new cases will have been detected by the end of 2025.
Prevention
“Although there is no mass screening in the population, as there is for breast, colon and cervical cancers, we do carry out what is called early diagnosis: we tell patients from the age of 50 to go to their GP or to a specialist for urological check-ups,” head of the urology service at Hospital Clínico Bernardo Herrera Imbroda told SUR. However, it has been proven that “screening improves survival” in patients with a family history. In other words, men with a family history should start undergoing tests from the age of 40.
Robotic surgery minimises postoperative complications in prostate cancer, improving patient quality of life
“The survival rate in prostate cancer with early detection and localisation is high, more than 90%. Prevention lies, fundamentally, in early diagnosis,” Dr Herrera Imbroda says. Advances such as robotic surgery “help to greatly reduce the ratio of perioperative complications, especially in terms of urinary continence and erectile dysfunction”. Of the average of 400 robotic surgeries performed at Clínico every year, around 120 are related to prostate cancer.
“It is diagnosed more because it is related to age and, fortunately, we are living longer and longer,” radiation oncologist Antonio Lazo Prados says. He agrees with his colleague that treatments are increasingly effective, surgeries are safer, as is radiotherapy, which means that side effects have fallen exponentially and survival is improving: it is one of the cancers with the best prognosis, cured in 90% of the cases.
Technological advances
Technological breakthroughs have tripled survival also in patients with metastases from two or three years to seven or eight and progress is continuous: tools such as artificial intelligence, molecular biology, early detection and genetic study of tumours are now being incorporated.
Silent advance of prostate cancer: early detection increases chances of cure
Nine out of ten diagnoses occur in men over the age of 65, with an average age of onset of around 75 years. Because the disease is asymptomatic and progresses slowly and silently, it might no longer be curable in later stages. A blood test for PSA (a protein produced almost exclusively by prostate cells) is usually performed in addition to a urological examination and individualised follow-up. A digital rectal examination may also performed, in which the doctor feels the prostate through the rectum to look for lumps, irregularities in size, shape or texture. If there is suspicion, an ultrasound and biopsy are performed to confirm.
Head of the urology department at Hospital Quirónsalud Málaga José Ángel Gómez Pascual agrees that prostate cancer has a high cure rate if detected in time. He strongly calls for technological advances such as “prostate biopsy by fusion” of magnetic resonance imaging and transrectal ultrasound, which allows the exact tissue in which cancerous cells are presumed to be present to be biopsied.
Symptoms
Symptoms show up as the cancer progresses: difficulty in starting to urinate, less force in the urine stream, dribbling after finishing, going to the toilet frequently, especially at night, blood or pus in the urine, blood in the semen, pain when urinating or ejaculating, pain in the hip or lower back that does not go away with time, pain in the pelvis, unintentional weight loss and loss of appetite.