6 symptoms of prostate cancer that are easy to miss as Joe Biden is diagnosed with an 'aggressive' type

• Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with "aggressive" prostate cancer, his office said.
• It's relatively easy to treat if caught early, but symptoms often don't show up until it's advanced.
• Changes in how often you need to pee are among the signs that are easy to miss.

Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with "aggressive" prostate cancer that has spread to his bones after experiencing urinary symptoms, his private office said on Sunday.

Prostate cancer is the second-deadliest form of cancer in men in the US, after lung cancer, and affects the gland in males that sits beneath the bladder and in front of the rectum. About one in eight men will get prostate cancer, but most will not die of the disease, the American Cancer Society says.

It's a somewhat paradoxical disease: When caught early, it's often curable — but symptoms typically don't appear until it's more developed and harder to treat.

When it's found at more advanced stages, treatment options are more limited, and at stage 4, which is when the cancer has spread from the prostate to other parts of the body, "treatment won't cure your cancer, but it can help keep it under control and manage any symptoms," Chiara De Biase, the director of health services, equity, and improvement at the charity Prostate Cancer UK, told Business Insider.

Biden's team has not shared which stage of cancer he has or his prognosis but said it was "hormone-sensitive," meaning it uses hormones to grow and has the potential to be managed with drugs that block hormones in the body.

Easy-to-miss symptoms of prostate cancer include changes in how a person pees

Changes in urinary habits tend to be the earliest sign that a person has prostate cancer. If the tumor grows near and presses against the urethra, it can change the way the person pees. But early prostate cancer usually grows in a different area, away from the urethra, so it doesn't tend to cause symptoms until much later.

Changes in how a person with prostate cancer pees can include:

• Difficulty starting to pee or emptying your bladder.
• A weak flow when you pee.
• A feeling that your bladder hasn't emptied properly.
• Dribbling urine after you finish urinating.
• Needing to pee more often than usual, especially at night.
• A sudden need to pee or sometimes leaking pee before you get to the toilet.

It's important to note that these changes can also be a sign of an enlarged prostate, a common, noncancerous condition.

If prostate cancer spreads, other symptoms can include:

• Back pain, hip pain, or pelvis pain.
• Problems getting or keeping an erection.
• Blood in the urine or semen.
• Unexplained weight loss.
• Weakness or numbness in the legs or feet, or even loss of bladder or bowel control, from cancer in the spine pressing on the spinal cord.

On average, men are diagnosed with prostate cancer at 67

The American Cancer Society says the average age at which men are diagnosed with prostate cancer is 67. Biden is 82. The organization recommends that men with an average risk of prostate cancer consider getting screened at 50. The test involves taking a blood sample and checking for higher-than-normal levels of prostate-specific antigen.

"It's so important for men to know their own risk, and what they can choose to do about it," De Biase said.