Statistics About Prostate Cancer

How Many Men Get Prostate Cancer?

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer, other than skin cancers, in American men. The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that during 2007 about 218,890 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the United States. About 1 man in 6 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime, but only 1 man in 34 will die of it. A little over 1.8 million men in the United States are survivors of prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men. (Lung cancer is the leading cause of death.) The American Cancer Society estimates that 27,050 men in the United States will die of prostate cancer in 2007. Prostate cancer accounts for about 10% of cancer-related deaths in men.

Ninety one percent of all prostate cancers are found in the local and regional stages (local means it is still confined to the prostate; regional means it has spread from the prostate to nearby areas, but not to distant sites, such as bone). When compared to men the same age and race who do not have cancer (called relative survival), the 5-year relative survival rate for these men is nearly 100%.

The 5-year relative survival rate for men whose prostate cancers have already spread to distant parts of the body at the time of diagnosis is about 33%.

Five-year and 10-year survival rates refer to the percentage of men who live at least 5 or 10 years after their prostate cancer is first diagnosed. Relative survival rates assume that people will die of other causes and compare the observed survival with that expected for people without prostate cancer. That means that relative survival refers only to deaths from prostate cancer. Since prostate cancer usually occurs in older men who often have other health problems, relative survival rates are generally used to produce a standard way of discussing prognosis (outlook for survival).

To measure 10-year survival rates, we must have records of patients diagnosed at least 13 years ago. According to the most recent data, relative 10-year survival is 93% and 15-year survival is 77%. Modern methods of detection and treatment mean that prostate cancers are now found earlier and treated more effectively. This has led to a yearly drop in death rates of about 3.5% in recent years. If you are diagnosed this year, your outlook is probably better than the numbers reported above.

Facts and Statistics

(provided by National Prostate Cancer Coalition)

• Prostate cancer is diagnosed every 2 3/4 minutes, approximately 190,000 new cases each year. It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in America among men.
• More than 30,000 American men lose their lives to prostate cancer each year, one death every twenty minutes.
• Prostate cancer incidence rates increased 192% between 1973 and 1992.
• One in six American men is at lifetime risk of prostate cancer. If a close relative has prostate cancer, a man's risk of the disease more than doubles. With two relatives, his risk increases fivefold. With three close relatives, his risk is about 97%.
• African American men have the highest prostate cancer incidence and mortality rates in the world. The incidence rate is about 35% - 50% higher than - and mortality rate double - that of Caucasian males, who have the second highest rate.
• In the next 24 hours, prostate cancer will claim the lives of over 80 American men.
• Prostate cancer represents 30% of all new cancer cases in American men.
• This year, more cases of prostate cancer in men under the age of 65 are expected than the combined number of men of ages who are victims of leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, and brain tumors.
• Prostate cancer accounts for approximately 15% of all cancer cases in the United States and 15% of male cancer deaths. Yet, on average, only about 5% of federal cancer research dollars have been devoted to beat the disease.

Facts on the High Risk of Prostate Cancer for African-American Men

• African American men have the highest prostate cancer incidence and mortality rates in the world. The incidence rate is up to 60% higher than - and mortality rate double - that of Caucasian males, who have the second highest rate.
• African-American men have the highest risk of developing prostate cancer and are twice as likely to die from it as other men with the cancer.
• During this year alone, 25,300 African-American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer.
• 6,100 African-American men will die from prostate cancer this year.
• Prostate cancer death and occurrence rates among African-Americans are higher than other racial or ethnic populations in the United States.
• In 2001, the most diagnosed cancer in African-American men was prostate cancer (37%.)
• Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death among African-American men.
• Although prostate cancer incidence rates are high in whites, the rate for African-Americans is even higher -- 50% higher than the incidence in white men.

General Cancer Facts

(provided by National Prostate Cancer Coalition)

One tenth of one percent of the U.S. budget is invested in cancer research. In 2002, nearly 1.3 million new cases of cancer are expected to be diagnosed in the United States, and more than 550,000 lives will be lost. That's more lives lost than by the U.S. military on all battlefields this century.

Each day, more than 1,500 Americans die of cancer, the second leading cause of death in the US.

Before the advent of early detection through PSA screening, about three-fourths of all prostate cancer cases were found in the late stages where the disease isn't readily treatable or curable. Since widespread use of screening, about three-fourths of all new cases are now found early - giving men a fighting chance.

Screening for prostate cancer takes less than 10 minutes and is covered by health insurance in many states.