Prostate Cancer
The Stats
What is prostate cancer?
The prostate is a gland found only in men and is located just below the bladder and in front of the rectum. 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, 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?
Metastatic cancer is cancer that has spread from the place where it first started to another place in the body. 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. The most common sites of cancer metastasis are the lungs, bones and liver. 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 (glands near the bladder), 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.
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.
Prostate cancer is much easier to cure when it is diagnosed at an earlier stage. In Ireland we are working hard to ensure that more and more men are diagnosed early.
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
1 in 8 men in Ireland will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime
Every year approximately 500 men will die from prostate cancer in Ireland
After skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in men
97% occurs in men age 50 or older
Prostate cancer is over 90% curable -if detected and treated in its earliest stages
Men, who are over the age of 50 years, have a positive family history of prostate cancer and are concerned, should consult with their GP
What is prostate cancer?
The prostate is a gland found only in men and is located just below the bladder and in front of the rectum. 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, 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?
Metastatic cancer is cancer that has spread from the place where it first started to another place in the body. 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. The most common sites of cancer metastasis are the lungs, bones and liver. 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 (glands near the bladder), 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.
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.
Prostate cancer is much easier to cure when it is diagnosed at an earlier stage. In Ireland we are working hard to ensure that more and more men are diagnosed early.
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
The older you are, the more likely you are to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. Three in 100 cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed in men under the age of 50 and 97% of all prostate cancers are diagnosed in men 50 and older.
The roles of race and family history are important as well. African American men are 60% more likely to develop prostate cancer compared with Caucasian men and are nearly 2.5 times as likely to die from the disease.
Genetic studies suggest that strong familial predisposition may be responsible for 5%-10% of prostate cancers.
Men with a 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.
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, are likely to have an effect as well.
In recent years, research 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.
When weighing up 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.
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