In recognition of September as Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, The ASCO Post is pleased to share the following reminders, adapted in part from the American Cancer Society:
- Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men, behind skin cancer, and it affects one in seven men in his lifetime.
- Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind only lung cancer.
- In 2014, approximately 233,000 new cases will be diagnosed in the United States; about 29,480 men will die of prostate cancer this year in the U.S.
- Prostate cancer occurs mainly in older men. The average age at the time of diagnosis is about 66.
- Most men diagnosed with prostate cancer do not die from it.
- African American men have the highest prostate cancer incidence in the world.
- Over 90% of all prostate cancers are discovered while they are localized or regional. The 5-year survival rate for men diagnosed with prostate tumors discovered at these stages is nearly 100%. ■
