Prostate cancer is the commonest non-cutaneous cancer diagnosed in men and earlier detection has correlated with a lower prostate cancer death rate. However, both the detection and treatment processes are invasive, fraught with imprecision and associated with significant morbidities. To compound the problem, most men with an abnormal serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) level, the initial laboratory test, investigated do not have prostate cancer detected.  Consequently, it is not at all surprising that these many uncertainties cause consternation for men and their partners especially since embarking on the investigation and treatment can be life changing and not necessarily for the better. Research undertaken with Professor Suzanne Chambers and colleagues with strategies to address problems experienced by patients and families will be discussed.

Once prostate cancer is no longer localised, treatment centres on androgen deprivation with further associated problems which significantly impact on men’s health both physically and mentally. Finally, at the end of the ‘prostate cancer journey’, there is the issue of impending death from prostate cancer for a minority. Thus, the psychosocial challenges this disease and its treatments cause are varied and many. This presentation will highlight some of these together with cooperative studies and interventions undertaken with fellow members of the Northern Section of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand.