NIH Prostate Cancer Fact Sheets

NIH Prostate Cancer Fact Sheets

YESTERDAY

• In 1975, the annual prostate cancer incidence rate among U.S. males was 94 new cases diagnosed per 100,000 men; the mortality rate was 31 deaths per 100,000 men. The incidence rates among white men and African American men were 92 and 141 new cases, respectively, per 100,000 men; the mortality rates for white men and African American men were 29 and 56 deaths, respectively, per 100,000 men.
• Treatment options for localized prostate cancer included surgery (open prostatectomy) and radiation therapy. Men with more advanced disease were treated with hormonal therapy, in which the level of male hormones was reduced either by removal of the testicles or by administration of estrogens, such as diethylstilbestrol (DES). Hormonal therapy can slow the growth of prostate tumors because prostate cancer cells frequently require male hormones, such as testosterone, to grow.
• In 1986, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of the serum PSA test to monitor patients with prostate cancer; in 1994, the PSA test was additionally approved as a prostate cancer screening test. PSA, or prostate-specific antigen, is a protein that is often found in increased amounts in the blood of patients with prostate cancer. The introduction of widespread PSA screening led to a dramatic increase in the incidence rate of prostate cancer, which peaked at 237 new cases diagnosed per 100,000 American men in 1992.

TODAY

• In 2007, the latest year for which we have updated statistics, the U.S. incidence rate for prostate cancer was approximately 166 new cases diagnosed per 100,000 men; the mortality rate was approximately 24 deaths per 100,000 men. The prostate cancer death rate in this country has been declining since 1991–1994, when it peaked at an annual rate of 39 deaths per 100,000 men. Although the prostate cancer death rate has declined for both white men and African American men, the disparity in deaths from this disease persists.

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