What Is The Prognosis For Prostate Cancer?

Prostate cancer is the second most prevalent type of cancer in men, and skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in men. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death in men; lung cancer is the leading cause of death in men. The survival rate for men with prostate cancer is increasing. Prostate cancer is, normally, a very slow growing cancer, and with all the medical advances, the survival rate of 5 years after treatment is nearly 100 percent. Approximately 93 percent of men live up to 10 years, and 77 percent of men live up to 15 years. A person diagnosed with low-grade prostate cancer has a good chance of surviving past 10 years. However, a person diagnosed with a more aggressive form of prostate cancer will most likely die from the disease.

Staging and prognosis

Surgery, radiation, hormone therapy, chemotherapy or a combination of any of these treatments may be used to treat prostate cancer, depending on the stage of the cancer. Cure rates for men with slow growing “low grade prostate cancer is about 98 percent. If prostate cancer has spread locally to the pelvic lymph nodes, the disease is more difficult to cure. Even though prostate cancer with pelvic lymph node metastasis isn’t as easily cured, the cancer is slow to progress and the survival rate is still fairly good. The prognosis isn’t as good for the man with metastatic prostate cancer that has spread to distant organs. The man with metastasized prostate cancer may only have 1 to 3 years left to live.

Recurrence

Sometimes prostate cancer will be cured, and then it will recur again at a later time. Even with recurrence of prostate cancer, there is still a good possibility that it can be cured again, if the cancer has not spread to the pelvic lymph nodes or to the distant organs. If the prostate cancer has recurred and it has spread from the place of origin, hormone therapy can slow the progression of the cancer to buy the man a little more time to live.

Family history

Men with a strong family history of prostate cancer are more susceptible to it than men without a family history. For instance, a man with 3 or more relatives with prostate cancer is more likely to get prostate cancer than a man with only 1 relative with prostate cancer. If a man has 1 member of his family with prostate cancer, his risk for developing prostate cancer doubles. If he has 3 or more men in his family with the disease, his risk increases by 11. Besides genetics, environmental and dietary factors also play a role in a man’s risk of developing prostate cancer.

Sexual practices

A man’s sexual practices in his younger life may influence his chances of developing prostate cancer later on in life. Studies have found that a fairly high percentage of men with prostate cancer had sexually transmitted diseases when they were sexually active in their younger years. There may be no way to actually prevent prostate cancer, but men of all ages can lower their chances of getting the disease by using safer sex practices.

Age

Prostate cancer is nearly unheard of in men below the age of 40; the risk increases as the man ages. It is much more common for a man over the age of 50 to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. By the time a man reaches the age of 70, he has a 65 percent chance of developing prostate cancer. Because prostate cancer usually grows at a slow rate, the survival rate is usually very good. Men should be checked for prostate cancer by the time they are 60 years of age, and earlier if there is a family history. Nowadays, doctors often do a digital prostate exam on men in their 40s during an annual physical as part of prostate cancer screening.

Race

Ethnicity plays a role in the risk of developing prostate cancer. African American men are more at risk of developing the disease than any other race. Black men are more at risk than Caucasian men. Asian men are the least likely to develop prostate cancer. Asian men who migrate to American increase their risks of developing the disease, which implies lifestyle is connected with a man’s risk of prostate cancer. A man who has prostate cancer that is localized to the prostate and growing slowly has the best cure rate.

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