• Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in men in the U.S., and the 4th most common tumor diagnosed worldwide.
• In the United States, 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime.
• For Black men, 1 in 6 will develop prostate cancer and are more than twice as likely to die from the disease.
• In 2024, more than 299,000 U.S. men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and more than more than 35,000 will die from the disease. That’s one new case diagnosed every 2 minutes and another death from prostate cancer every 15 minutes.
• A man is more likely to develop prostate cancer than he is to develop colon, kidney, melanoma, and stomach cancers combined.
• It is estimated that more than 3 million U.S. men are living with prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in men in the U.S., and the 4th most common tumor diagnosed worldwide.
A man is more likely to develop prostate cancer than he is to develop colon, kidney, melanoma, and stomach cancers combined.

The chance of being diagnosed with prostate cancer increases rapidly after age 50. About 6 in 10 of all prostate cancers are diagnosed in men over the age of 65.
For Black men, 1 in 6 will develop prostate cancer and are more than twice as likely to die from the disease. You can read more about prostate cancer in Black men here.
Prostate cancer is among the most heritable of the major human cancers; It is estimated that more than half (57%) of prostate cancer risk is due to genetic factors.

More than 80% of all prostate cancers are detected when the cancer is in the prostate or the region around it, so treatment success rates are high compared to most other types of cancer in the body. The 5-year overall survival rates in the United States for men diagnosed with local or regional prostate cancer exceed 99%. In other words, the chances of men dying from their prostate cancer is generally low. However, prostate cancer comes in many forms, and some prostate cancers can be aggressive even when they first appear to be confined to the prostate.

What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?
If the cancer is caught at its earliest stages, most men will not experience any symptoms. Some men, however, will experience symptoms such as frequent, hesitant, or burning urination, difficulty in having an erection, or pain or stiffness in the lower back, hips or upper thighs.
Because these symptoms can also indicate the presence of other diseases or disorders, men who experience any of these symptoms will undergo a thorough work-up to determine the underlying cause of the symptoms. You can read more about prostate cancer symptoms here.

If there are no symptoms, how is prostate cancer detected?
Screening for prostate cancer can be performed in a physician’s office. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing is the current test of choice for prostate cancer screening. During a PSA test, a small amount of blood is drawn from the arm, and the level of PSA is measured.

When there’s a problem with the prostate—such as the development and growth of prostate cancer—more PSA is released. This can be the first indicator of prostate cancer. More testing, such as digital rectal exam (DRE), imaging, and, ultimately, a biopsy, is required to confirm a diagnosis.

There are a wide variety of treatment options available for men with prostate cancer, including surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy and chemotherapy, any or all of which might be used at different times depending on the stage of disease and the need for treatment.
Consultation with all three types of prostate cancer specialists—a urologist, a radiation oncologist and a medical oncologist—will offer the most comprehensive assessment of the available treatments and expected outcomes. For men with advanced disease or an increased risk due to family history or lifestyle, precision treatments based on genetic screening may be recommended.

More information regarding treatments for prostate cancer can be found on our website here.