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Key Contacts: |
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Main Hospital Number
206-364-0500
Toll Free
877-NWH-HOSP
877-694-4677
Emergencies
911
Seattle Breast Center
206-368-1749
Puget Sound Cancer Centers
425-775-1677 (Edmonds)
206-365-8252 (Seattle)
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Prostate Cancer Fact Sheet
- Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men, excluding
skin cancers. One out of every five men will develop prostate cancer at some
point during his life.
- According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 220,900 new cases
will be diagnosed in 2003 and 28,900 men will die from the disease each year.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men after lung
cancer, accounting for 10 percent of male cancer-related deaths.
- African-American men have the highest incidence rate of prostate cancer
in the world, with an incidence rate twice that of Caucasians.
- Though the majority (more than 75 percent) of cases occur in men over age
65, many cases also occur in younger men, who sometimes have a more aggressive
cancer.
- The American Cancer Society and the American Urological Association recommend
that every man over age 50 has a digital rectal exam (DRE) and a prostate-specific
antigen (PSA) blood test each year. African-Americans and others with a family
history of prostate cancer should have both tests beginning at age 40.
- There are usually no symptoms in the early stages of prostate cancer. When
the tumor growth becomes more advanced, urinary symptoms may develop. These
include:
- frequent urination (especially at night).
- weak urinary stream.
- inability to urinate.
- interruption of urinary stream (stopping and starting).
- pain or burning on urination.
- blood in the urine.
- Many of these symptoms are similar to Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH),
another common prostate condition in which the prostate enlarges.
- Treatment of prostate cancer varies depending on the stage of the disease,
but generally includes surgery, radiation therapy (external beam radiation
and/or radioactive seed implants),
hormone therapy or chemotherapy.
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