Diseases and Conditions
Prostate cancer
Screening for prostate cancer
Overview
Symptoms
Causes
Risk factors
Complications
Prevention
Diagnosis
Treatment
Alternative medicine
Coping and support
Preparing for an appointment
Causes
It's not clear what causes prostate cancer.
Doctors know that prostate cancer begins when cells in the prostate develop changes in their DNA. A cell's DNA contains the instructions that tell a cell what to do. The changes tell the cells to grow and divide more rapidly than normal cells do. The abnormal cells continue living, when other cells would die.
The accumulating abnormal cells form a tumor that can grow to invade nearby tissue. In time, some abnormal cells can break away and spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body.