Prostate cancer symptoms only show up once the tumour has grown large enough to put pressure on the urethra.
Signs of the condition include needing to urinate more frequently - often during the night.
Having a weak flow of urine could also be a sign of the disease.
Other symptoms can include needing to rush to the toilet, and feeling that your bladder has not emptied fully.
Other symptoms can include needing to rush to the toilet, and feeling that your bladder has not emptied fully.
The exact cause of prostate cancer is unknown.
But the risk of developing the condition is increased if you're over the age of 50, the NHS said.
Prostate cancer is also more common in men of African-Caribbean or African descent.
You could lower your risk of the cancer by cutting back on some foods high in calcium.
About 40,000 new cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed every year.
Stephen Fry said on Twitter: "My doctor said 'let's have a general check-up.' I have one of these every year, it's nothing to worry about.
"The next day he called me up, he said 'I'm a little worried about your PSA levels' . Now I don't know if you know what PSA levels are - these are things the prostate give out if they are under attack from some sort of tumour.
"A normal level is anything under 4 nanogram per millimetre, and mine was 4.97, nearly 5, so not very high to be honest. So I wasn't too concerned. My doctor suggested I try undergo an MRI.
"Went home didn't think about it, the next day Tony called again and said 'something rather mischievous turned up'. He sent me to a specialist called Roger, and he looked at the MRI image, and I underwent a 'transrectal biopsy'. I got the results, and yes indeed there is a cancer there. Adenoarcinoma.
"These things are graded - the gleeson score. My score was eight.
"The next day, just to be doubly sure I had a PET scan - yes indeed there it is. It doesn't seem to have spread; the cancer. One of the lymph nodes had something which called for active surveillance, according to the radiologist. So, I went again to Roger and he looked again. We had a couple of options, one was radiotherapy, but that is a very long and difficult process, I mean it's fine for some people but there were a number of issues with it for me - I won't go into the full details of it.
"The other was to get rid of the prostate, to get it out by using a process of sending little robots in through little holes in your tummy. And that's what we decided the next step should be because he wanted to also take out some of the lymph nodes.
"So this is in December, nearly Christmas, so in the first week of January I had the operation and it all seemed to go pretty well.
"They took the prostate out, they took out 11 lymph nodes. They then discovered I had a gleeson score of nine, not 8, and considering the top score is 10, this was obviously an aggressive little b******."
"So, what next? You have to recover, and that's what I've been doing in case you've been wondering why I've been out of the public eye.
"I have been keeping my head down as much as possible because obviously you want to get better without strangers - with the best intention in the world - sending you all kinds of flowers and cards and letters because then you have to answer them all and I wasn't quite up to that.
"It's a bit of a business having an operation like that, there are 5 holes punctured in to you, so it's like being stabbed five times. Admittedly you are asleep and it's all very antiseptic and hygienic and so on.
"But to the body it is the same effect, you think you are going to recover really well but it takes longer than it might and its all really undignified.
"So my family, and my divine and darling husband of course, were just marvellous and those few friends who have known have been really kind and discreet about it.
"You don't think it is going to happen to you, it happens to other people.
"So far as we know it's all been got. Are there greater chances of me getting the other types of cancer now? Apparently not.
"With prostate cancer you don't necessarily find yourself more susceptible to other kinds but I won't know sure until my PSA levels are checked.
"They should be 0 as I have no prostate left. If there is anything left on the bed of the prostate where they have taken it then maybe that will spread and I'll need radiotherapy and the whole thing will start again.
"But, for the moment, I'm fit and well and happy.
"I would urge any of you men of a certain age to think about getting your PSA levels checked.
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