6 Conditions That Can Mimic Prostate Cancer

Not always. You may be scouring the internet to learn about early prostate symptoms such as:

• Pain when you pee

• Blood in your pee

• Having to pee more at night

You may wonder if you have cancer of the prostate, the small gland under your bladder that helps make semen. But there are lots of other medical conditions that can mimic early prostate symptoms. 

Many of these noncancerous conditions are easily treated. Here's six of the most common ones.

It's when your prostate gets bigger than normal (enlarged). As you get older, the prostate often gets bigger. The larger gland can put pressure on your bladder and urethra, the tube that removes pee from your body.

So BPH can mimic prostate cancer symptoms such as:

• Frequent, urgent need to pee 

• Peeing more often at night

• Pain when you pee

• Blood in your pee

• Weak urine stream

• Dribbling after you pee

Prostatitis happens when your prostate gland swells and makes it hard to pee or hurt to pee. 

Symptoms depend on the cause, but can mimic prostate cancer symptoms such as:

• Urgent need to pee 

• Blood in the urine 

• Cloudy urine

• Painful ejaculation 

But prostatitis is caused by bacteria and nearby infections, or prostate swelling from autoimmune, trauma, or chemical irritants.

Bacteria or sexually transmitted diseases can inflame the coiled tube behind your testicles that stores and carries sperm, a condition called epididymitis. 

Symptoms for epididymis can look like prostate cancer:

• Pain when you pee

• Swollen, discolored, or warm scrotum 

• Sore, tender testicles on one side 

• Penis discharge 

• Bloody semen 

• Pelvic pain or discomfort

Your urinary tract makes and stores pee (urine). Pee is filtered water and waste from your body, stored in your bladder where it exits through the urethra. If bacteria enter your urinary tract, they can cause inflammation and infection. 

Some UTI symptoms overlap with prostate cancer:

• Pain in your flank, abdomen, pelvis, or lower back

• Urgent, frequent need to pee

• Pain or blood when you pee

• Pelvic pressure 

Some STDs can mimic early prostate symptoms, such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomonas vaginalis.

These STDs can cause chronic inflammation in your prostate, and you may get symptoms that mimic prostate cancer: 

• Waking at night to pee

• Pain while peeing

• Belly pain 

• Painful, swollen testicles

Research is mixed as to whether STDs raise prostate cancer risk.

It's a rare condition that often shows up in your urinary tract, but it can affect any organ. Doctors think that E. coli bacteria may lower your macrophages, a white blood cell type. You're at higher risk for malakoplakia if you have UTIs, diabetes, cancer, or a weakened immune system.

Malakoplakia symptoms are often mistaken for prostate cancer:

• Nodules and masses

• Pain when you pee

• Frequent, urgent need to pee

• Blood in the urine

• Flank pain 

If not treated early, prostate cancer can spread to other parts of your body like your lungs, bones, and liver.

Later-stage prostate cancer can cause symptoms like:

• Fatigue

• Bone pain

• Unexplained weight loss

• Bloody cough

• Poor appetite

• Bones that break easily

Several other conditions share these symptoms and include:

• Osteoporosis

• Rheumatoid arthritis

• Lung cancer

• Pneumonia

• HIV 

Sometimes you can get symptoms for infection or an enlarged prostate that can cause health issues. 

If you get any of these symptoms, get medical care right away:

• Get up to urgently pee many times during the night
• Frequently get an urge to pee
• Blood in your pee or semen
• Pain or burning when you pee
• Painful ejaculation
• Serious pain or stiffness in lower back, hips, pelvic or rectal area, or upper thighs
• Urine dribbles