It is common in older men and may cause no problems at all. If you want or need to choose a treatment, however, this booklet describes both benefits and risks of all treatments. BPH means that the prostate gland has grown larger than normal. BPH is not cancer and does not cause cancer. Benign means the cells are not cancerous.
Hyperplasia means there are more cells than normal.
BPH results from growing older and cannot be prevented. Your chances of having prostate trouble increase as you age. BPH is common in men over age 50. By age 80, about 8 out of 10 men have it. BPH does not always cause problems.