Prostate Cancer Statistics

By understanding prostate cancer statistics, doctors and patients can better understand their chances of beating the disease and hence help them to stay motivated. Prostate cancer spreads quite slowly and offers a fighting chance for patients to become free of cancer cells, but only if the cancer is detected and destroyed at the right time.

Risk of contacting prostate cancer

In the US alone, approximately 27,000 men could die of prostate cancer out of the 192,000 men detected with the disease in the year 2009. This means that around 15% of all men diagnosed with prostate cancer could succumb to the disease. However, considering that around 85% will still survive the “C” word is proof of the progress made by modern science in beating back prostate cancer. Other prostate cancer statistics state that around 1 in every 6 men in the US could be afflicted with prostate cancer and the risks of getting the disease increase dramatically with increasing age.

Race-in prostate cancer statistics

Individuals from among various races that died between the years 2002 to 2006 in the US, it was noted that blacks had the most risk of getting and dying from prostate cancer. Out of 100,000 men, around 53 men died of the disease as compared to around 23 white men for the same number. Asians had the lowest death rates in the US, with around 10 men among 100,000 dying of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer statistics also show that around 19 Hispanic men out of 100,000 died during the same period.

Prostate cancer statistics in relation to the stage of detection

In simple terms, patients had a higher chance of survival in early detection and treatment of cancer. Around 80% of patients were detected when their cancer was in the organ confined stage and had not spread anywhere else. Around 12% were detected when the cancer had moved on to the locally confined stage to infect local areas around the prostate while around 4% were detected when the cancer had reached the metastatic stage, where the cancer had spread to other organs in the body. Although the survival rates were almost 100% in the initial 2 stages, it dropped to around 30% in case the cancer had reached the metastatic stage. White men in the US also had around 99% chances of survival as compared to around 96% by black men.

Risks of contracting prostate cancer

Prostate cancer statistics also show that around 15% of men in 2009 could be afflicted and detected with prostate cancer. This translates to around 1 in every 6 men contracting the disease. Out of these, around 8% of the men are expected to be between the ages of 50 and 70. This indicates the risk faced by US citizens of contracting prostate cancer during their lifetime.

Prostate cancer usually does not display any symptoms but luckily also spreads slowly as compared to other forms of cancer. Prostate cancer statistics show that although around 15% of men could get detected with the disease, chances of survival are excellent provided the disease is detected and treated in the early stages itself.