Prostate Cancer Facts

• Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in America.

• In 2005, over 232,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and over 30,000 men will die from it.

• One new case occurs every 2.5 minutes and a man dies from prostate cancer every 17 minutes.

• After lung cancer, prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men in the U.S.

• A nonsmoking man is more likely to get prostate cancer than lung, bronchus, colon, rectal, bladder, lymphoma, melanoma, oral and kidney cancers combined.

• African-American men are 65% more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than Caucasian- Americans and are more than twice as likely to die from it.  The reasons for this disparity are not yet known.

• It is estimated that there are over 2 million American men currently living with prostate cancer.

• Early prostate cancer usually has no symptoms and is most commonly detected through prostate cancer screening tests such as the PSA blood test and digital rectal exam.

• Prostate cancer can be eliminated from the body by surgery or radiation – if diagnosed at an early stage. 

• However, every year, 70,000 men require additional treatment due to a recurrence of prostate cancer.

• Because prostate cancer is a relatively slow-growing cancer, the 5-year survival rate for prostate cancer diagnosed at all stages is 98%.  The relative 10-year survival rate is 84% and the 15-year survival rate is 56%.

• The chance of having prostate cancer increases rapidly after age 50. More than 70% of all prostate cancers are diagnosed in men over the age of 65. It is still unclear why this increase with age occurs for prostate cancer.

• The only well-established risk factors for prostate cancer are age, ethnicity and family history of the disease; however, high dietary fat intake may also be a significant risk factor. A recent study shows that the risk of dying from prostate cancer increases with body weight.

• During the past 11 years, the Prostate Cancer Foundation has raised more than $200 million to support aggressive prostate cancer research.  During that time, U.S. government funding for prostate cancer research has increased 20-fold from $25 million per year in 1993 to over $500 million in 2004 – largely as a result of the advocacy efforts of the Prostate Cancer Foundation.



Prostate Cancer News

Prostate Cancer Chemoprevention By A Flavonoid Supplemented Diet In The Transgenic Adenonocarcinoma Of The Murine Prostate (TRAMP) Model
 15 Jun 2008 at 8:00am
ORLANDO, FL (UroToday.com) - Dietary and environmental factors have been postulated to account for differences in prostate cancer incidence and mortality worldwide.
Fertility Issues In Patients With Prostate Cancer
 13 Jul 2008 at 1:00am
UroToday.com - With PSA screening, men are being diagnosed with prostate cancer (CaP) at younger ages. In the online issue of the BJU International, Dr. Steinsvik and colleagues address the issues of fertility as related to prostate cancer therapies.
Possible link found between X-rays and prostate cancer
 14 Jul 2008 at 10:00pm
(University of Nottingham) Researchers at the University of Nottingham have shown an association between certain past diagnostic radiation procedures and an increased risk of young-onset prostate cancer -- a rare form of prostate cancer which affects about 10 percent of all men diagnosed with the disease.
Behavior, Social Factors Should Be Considered In Addressing Black Men's Prostate Cancer Screening Rates, Study Finds
 30 Jun 2008 at 9:00am
"Personal Factors Affecting African-American Men's Prostate Cancer Screening Behavior" (.pdf), Journal of the National Medical Association: The study seeks to identify the personal factors that affect black men's decisions to undergo prostate cancer screenings. Black men have the highest prostate cancer rate of any other racial or ethnic group.
Visualisation Software To Aid Prostate Cancer Detection
 23 Jul 2008 at 5:00am
Visualisation specialists See3D, a spin off company of the University of Aberystwyth, is developing unique, sophisticated computer-generated models that will help doctors to improve the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. More than 35,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year in the UK alone and approximately 10,000 deaths per year are associated with this form of cancer.
PSA Reduction (after Antibiotics) Permits To Avoid Or Postpone Prostate Biopsy In Selected Patients
 13 Jul 2008 at 1:00am
UroToday.com - In Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases, a group from Palermo, Italy report on the use of antibiotics in patients with an elevated PSA. The study cohort consisted of 94 Caucasian men with a PSA between 4 and 10ng/ml, no symptoms of prostatitis, a negative rectal exam for cancer and who were otherwise candidates for prostate biopsy.
Theragenics Corporation(R) Engages Men In A National Debate On Prostate Cancer
 14 Jul 2008 at 4:00am
Theragenics Corporation, a medical device Company serving the prostate cancer and surgical markets (NYSE: TGX), is challenging men to engage in a national debate surrounding the treatment of the disease that will affect one in six of them - prostate cancer.
New Take on a Prostate Drug, and a New Debate
 14 Jun 2008 at 11:16pm
A drug can cut the risk of developing prostate cancer, but not all experts agree that men should be taking it.

GreenLight Laser Vaporization Of The Prostate: Single-Center Experience And Long-Term Results After 500 Procedures
 19 Jun 2008 at 12:00pm
UroToday.com - In the online issue of European Urology, Dr. Robin Ruszat and associates report a single institution experience of GreenLight laser vaporization of the prostate. The investigators used the technique of photoselective vaporization of the prostate (PVP) with the 80-W GreenLight laser system.
Prostate treatment questioned
 9 Jul 2008 at 12:34am
A prostate-cancer study that could change how doctors treat some patients found that widely used hormone-blocking drugs did not improve survival chances for older men whose disease hadn't spread.
Androgen deprivation therapy for localized prostate cancer not associated with improved survival
 7 Jul 2008 at 10:00pm
(JAMA and Archives Journals) A therapy that involves depriving the prostate gland the male hormone androgen is not associated with improved survival for elderly men with localized prostate cancer, compared to conservative management of the disease, according to a study in the July 9 issue of JAMA.
Drug Shows Promise in Treating Advanced Prostate Cancer
 22 Jul 2008 at 10:21am
Scientists are claiming to have made a major breakthrough in the fight against prostate cancer with a new pill that shrinks tumors.
UCLA researchers locate and image prostate cancer as it spreads to lymph nodes
 10 Jul 2008 at 10:00pm
(University of California - Los Angeles) Using an engineered common cold virus, UCLA researchers delivered a genetic payload to prostate cancer cells that allowed them, using positron emission tomography, to locate the diseased cells as they spread to the lymph nodes, the first place prostate cancer goes before invading other organs.
UCLA Cancer Researchers Locate And Image Prostate Cancer As It Spreads To The Lymph Nodes
 11 Jul 2008 at 11:00am
Using an engineered common cold virus, UCLA researchers delivered a genetic payload to prostate cancer cells that allowed them, using Positron Emission Tomography (PET), to locate the diseased cells as they spread to the lymph nodes, the first place prostate cancer goes before invading other organs.
Advance vs. prostate cancer
 22 Jul 2008 at 8:33pm
An experimental cancer drug shrank prostate tumors dramatically and more than doubled survival in 70 percent to 80 percent of patients with aggressive cancers, British researchers reported Tuesday.