About Prostate Cancer

Each year in Australia, close to 3000 men die of prostate cancer - equal to the number of women who die from breast cancer annually. Around 18,700 new cases are diagnosed in Australian every year.

Prostate cancer can be cured if detected and treated while still confined to the prostate gland. The tests for prostate cancer are the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test and the digital rectal examination (DRE). These tests do not give a conclusive diagnosis of cancer but can indicate the presence of prostate cancer.

While prostate cancer is most common in men over the age of 50, younger men with a history of prostate cancer in their family are at greater risk. What is complicated with prostate cancer is that some cancers grow very slowly and don’t threaten life, whilst others grow more rapidly and do.

It is as a result of this dilemma that it is recommended you take an active role in your decision on testing, and if you develop cancer, how you choose to be treated. It is your choice.

Prostate cancer facts and figures

• Prostate cancer affects 1 in 10 men.
  
  
• The World Health Organisation estimates that over 540,000 new cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed worldwide in 2000.
  
  
• In Western countries, prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer affecting men after middle age.
  
  
• Prostate cancer is common in the male population of the US and Northwest Europe but in contrast the incidence is much lower in Asia and South America.
  
  
• Historically, prostate cancer was considered a disease of old age but its prevalence is increasing in younger men.
  
  
• Compared with other types of cancer it is relatively slow growing
  
  
• A man with prostate cancer may live for many years without ever having the cancer discovered.
  
  
• In fact many men with prostate cancer will not die from it, but with it.

The likelihood of surviving prostate cancer 5 years after diagnosis is good compared to other types of cancer