Are some men more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer?
Older age,
African American race, and a family history of the disease can all increase the likelihood of a man being diagnosed with the disease.
As men increase in age, their risk of developing prostate cancer increases exponentially. Although only 1 in 10,000 under age 40 will be diagnosed, the rate shoots up to 1 in 39 for ages 40 to 59, and 1 in 14 for ages 60 to 69. More than 65% of all prostate cancers are diagnosed in men over the age of 65.
African American men are 56% more likely to develop prostate cancer compared with Caucasian men and nearly 2.5 times as likely to die from the disease.
Men with a single first-degree relative—father, brother or son—with a history of prostate cancer are twice as likely to develop the disease, while those with two or more relatives are nearly four times as likely to be diagnosed. The risk is highest in men whose family members were diagnosed before age 65.
What is Prostate Cancer?
Prostate cancer occurs when cells within the prostate grow uncontrollably, creating small tumors. The term “cancer” refers to a condition in which the regulation of cell growth is lost and cells grow uncontrollably. Most cells in the body are constantly dividing, maturing and then dying in a tightly controlled process. Unlike normal cells, the growth of cancer cells is no longer well-regulated. Instead of dying as they should, cancer cells outlive normal cells and continue to form new, abnormal cells.
Abnormal cell growths are called tumors. The term “primary tumor” refers to the original tumor; secondary tumors are caused when the original cancer spreads to other locations in the body. Prostate cancer typically is comprised of multiple very small, primary tumors within the prostate. At this stage, the disease is often curable (rates of 90% or better) with standard interventions such as surgery or radiation that aim to remove or kill all cancerous cells in the prostate. Unfortunately, at this stage the cancer produces few or no symptoms and can be difficult to detect.
What is Metastatic Prostate Cancer?
If untreated and allowed to grow, the cells from these tumors can spread in a process called metastasis. In this process, prostate cancer cells are transported through the lymphatic system and the bloodstream to other parts of the body, where they lodge and grow secondary tumors. Once the cancer has spread beyond the prostate, cure rates drop dramatically.
In most cases, prostate cancer is a relatively slow-growing cancer, which means that it typically takes a number of years for the disease to become large enough to be detectable, and even longer to spread beyond the prostate. This is good news. However, a small percentage of patients experience more rapidly growing, aggressive forms of prostate cancer. Unfortunately, it is difficult to know for sure which prostate cancers will grow slowly and which will grow aggressively – complicating treatment decisions.
The spread of cancer outside the prostate can be detected by the presence of prostate cancer cells in areas surrounding the prostate such as the seminal vesicle, lymph nodes in the groin area, the rectum and bones. When prostate cancer spreads to another site, such as bone, the new tumor is still considered to be prostate cancer, not bone cancer.
How Common is Prostate Cancer?
It is the most common non-skin cancer in America, affecting 1 in 6 men. A non-smoking man is more likely to develop prostate cancer than he is to develop colon, bladder, melanoma, lymphoma and kidney cancers combined. In fact, a man is 35% more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than a woman is to be diagnosed with breast cancer.
In 2009, more than 192,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and more than 27,000 men will die from the disease. One new case occurs every 2.7 minutes and a man dies from prostate cancer every 19 minutes.
It is estimated that there are more than 2 million American men currently living with prostate cancer.
How curable is prostate cancer?
As with all cancers, "cure" rates for prostate cancer describe the percentage of patients likely remaining disease-free for a specific time. In general, the earlier the cancer is caught, the more likely it is for the patient to remain disease-free.
Because approximately 90% of all prostate cancers are detected in the local and regional stages, the cure rate for prostate cancer is very high—nearly 100% of men diagnosed at this stage will be disease-free after five years. By contrast, in the 1970s, only 67% of men diagnosed with local or regional prostate cancer were disease-free after five years.
Yet being diagnosed with prostate cancer can be a life-altering experience. It requires making some very difficult decisions about treatments that can affect not only the life of the man diagnosed, but also the lives of his family members in significant ways for many years to come.
Risk Factors
Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in America, affecting 1 in 6 men. The older you are, the more likely you are to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. Although only 1 in 10,000 under age 40 will be diagnosed, the rate shoots up to 1 in 38 for ages 40 to 59, and 1 in 15 for ages 60 to 69. In fact, more than 65% of all prostate cancers are diagnosed in men over the age of 65.
But the roles of race and family history are important as well. African American men are 61% more likely to develop prostate cancer compared with Caucasian men and are nearly 2.5 times as likely to die from the disease. Men with a single first-degree relative—father, brother or son—with a history of prostate cancer are twice as likely to develop the disease, while those with two or more relatives are nearly four times as likely to be diagnosed. The risk is even higher if the affected family members were diagnosed at a young age, with the highest risk seen in men whose family members were diagnosed before age 60. (When weighing risk factors for prostate cancer, it’s also important to recognize that there are non-risk factors, or factors that have not been linked to an increase in risk.)
Although genetics might play a role in deciding why one man might be at higher risk than another, social and environmental factors, particularly diet and lifestyle, likely have an effect as well.
In fact, research in the past few years has shown that diet modification might decrease the chances of developing prostate cancer, reduce the likelihood of having a prostate cancer recurrence, or help slow the progression of the disease.
Organizations related to Cancer, Prostate
Top 10 Considerations for Preventing Prostate Cancer
To understand how to prevent prostate cancer, one must first understand what causes it. There are four major factors that influence one's risk for developing prostate cancer, factors which unfortunately cannot be changed.
Age: The average age at diagnosis of prostate cancer in the United States is 69 years and after that age the chance of developing prostate cancer becomes more common than any other cancer in men or women.
Race: African Americans have a 40% greater chance of developing prostate cancer and twice the risk of dying from it. Conversely, Asian men who live in Asia have the lowest risk; however when they migrate to the west, their risk increases.Family history: A man with a father or brother who developed prostate cancer has a twofold increased risk for developing it. This risk is further increased if the cancer was diagnosed at a younger age (less than 55 years of age) or affected three or more family members.
Where you live: The risk of developing prostate cancer for men who live in rural China is 2% and for men in the United States 17%. When Chinese men move to the western culture, their risk increases substantially; men who live north of 40 degrees latitude (north of Philadelphia, Columbus, Ohio, and Provo, Utah) have the highest risk for dying from prostate cancer of any men in the United States – this effect appears to be mediated by inadequate sunlight during three months of the year which reduces vitamin D levels.
Given the facts above, which are difficult to change, there are many things that men can do, however, to reduce or delay their risk of developing prostate cancer. Why is prostate cancer so common in the Western culture and much less so in Asia, and why when Asian men migrate to western countries the risk of prostate cancer increases over time? We believe the major risk factor is diet – foods that produce oxidative damage to DNA. What can you do about it to prevent or delay the onset of the disease?
1. Eat fewer calories or exercise more so that you maintain a healthy weight.
2. Try to keep the amount of fat you get from red meat and dairy products to a minimum.
3. Watch your calcium intake. Do not take supplemental doses far above the recommended daily allowance. Some calcium is OK, but avoid taking more than 1,500 mg of calcium a day.
4. Eat more fish – evidence from two large studies suggest that fish can help protect against prostate cancer because they have "good fat" particularly omega-3 fatty acids.
5. Try to incorporate cooked tomatoes that are cooked with olive oil which has also been shown to be beneficial, and cruciferous vegetables into many of your weekly meals.
6. Eat more soy.
7. Top off your meal with green or black tea.
8. What about supplements? Although selenium and vitamin E have been shown to reduce the frequency of prostate cancer in smokers, the correct dose is tricky. Too much can be harmful. Until we know more about the value of these supplements, do not take more than you'll find in a multivitamin preparation.
9. Eat an apple a day, or better yet, an apple, an orange, a bowl of vegetable soup, tomatoes, broccoli, and maybe some corn on the cob. Try nature's packaging of phytochemicals instead of the health food store. Studies have shown that simply eating an apple a day gives your body far more antioxidant and cancer fighting help than taking megadoses of vitamins.
10. Finally, eating all the broccoli in the world, though it may make a difference in the long run, does not take away your risk of having prostate cancer right now. If you are age 40 or over, if you have a family history of prostate cancer, or African American, you need more than a good diet can guarantee. You need a yearly rectal examination and PSA test.
* American Cancer Society, Inc.
1599 Clifton Road NE
Atlanta GA 30329
Phone #: 404-320-3333
800 #: 800-227-2345
e-mail: N/A
Home page: http://www.cancer.org
* Cancer Research UK
PO Box 123
London Intl WC2A 3PX
Phone #: 020--72-42 0200
800 #: N/A
e-mail: N/A
Home page: http://www.imperialcancer.co.uk
* Cancer.Net
American Society of Clinical Oncology
Alexandria VA 22314
Phone #: 571-483-1780
800 #: 888-651-3038
e-mail: contactus@cancer.net
Home page: http://www.cancer.net/patient
* Dattoli Cancer Foundation, sponsor of Prostate Cancer Resource Network
2803 Fruitville Road
Sarasota FL 34237
Phone #: 941-365-5599
800 #: 800-915-1001
e-mail: info@dattolifoundation.org
Home page: http://www.dattolifoundation.org
* Friends of Cancer Research
2231 Crystal Drive
Arlington VA 22202
Phone #: 703-302-1503
800 #: N/A
e-mail: info@focr.org
Home page: http://www.focr.org
* Lance Armstrong Foundation
PO Box 161550
Austin TX 78716-1150
Phone #: 512-236-8820
800 #: 866-235-7205
e-mail: N/A
Home page: http://www.livestrong.org
* National Cancer Institute
6116 Executive Blvd, MSC 8322, Room 3036A
Bethesda MD 20892-8322
Phone #: 301-435-3848
800 #: 800-422-6237
e-mail: N/A
Home page: http://www.cancer.gov
* OncoLink: The University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center Resource
3400 Spruce Street
Philadelphia PA 19104-4283
Phone #: 215-349-5445
800 #: --
e-mail: editors@oncolink.upenn.edu
Home page: http://www.oncolink.upenn.edu
* Patient Advocates for Advanced Cancer Treatments
1143 Parmelee NW
Grand Rapids MI 49504-3844
Phone #: 616-453-1477
800 #: --
e-mail: paact@iserv.net
Home page: http://www.paactusa.org
* Prostate Cancer Charity (UK)
Du Cane Road
London Intl W12 ONN
Phone #: 018-1 3-83 8124
800 #: --
e-mail: n.roberts@rpms.ac.uk
Home page: http://www.prostate-cancer.org.uk
* Prostate Pointers
Web Site on the Internet
None None None
Phone #: --
800 #: --
e-mail: gary@rattler.cameron.edu
Home page: http://www.rattler.cameron.edu/prostate/
* Robert Mathews Foundation
112242 NE 58th Pl
Kirkland WA 98033-7518
Phone #: 916-567-1400
800 #: 800-234-6284
e-mail: mathews@sna.com
Home page: http://www.mathews.org
* US TOO International, Inc., Prostate Cancer Survivor Support Groups
930 North York Road
Hinsdale IL 60521-2993
Phone #: (63-0) -323-1002
800 #: (80-0) -808-7866
e-mail: ustoo@ustoo.com
Home page: http://www.ustoo.com
* Wellness Community
919 18th Street N.W.
Washington DC 20006
Phone #: 202-659-9709
800 #: 888-793-9355
e-mail: help@thewellnesscommunity.org
Home page: http://www.thewellnesscommunity.org