Prostate Cancer Statistics

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men worldwide, ranking as one of the top ten causes of death by the World Health Organization. Prostate cancer remains a significant concern for men in the US, with 1 in 8 men likely to face the disease at some point in their lives. In 2024, the American Cancer Society estimated around 299,000 new cases and 35,000 deaths to affect the US. Notably, a large disparity exists, with Black men having a doubled risk of dying from prostate cancer.

Despite this, the survival rate for prostate cancer is the highest amongst all cancers, standing at 97% across all stages. Prostate cancer discovered early fares the best, with survival rates close to 100% five years post-diagnosis. Unfortunately, once cancer has spread far beyond the prostate, this drops to 32%.

Once the prostate-specific antigen test was discovered to be a highly sensitive and effective detection system, it was quickly implemented in the early 1990s, founding the modern basis for prostate cancer detection. Around 70.4% of cases are diagnosed while the cancer still remains in the prostate, while 20.1% are discovered after spreading beyond the prostate.

The most common ages for diagnosis range from 65 to 74. For those at normal risk, the recommended ages for prostate cancer screening can range from 50 to 69, or from 40 to 45 for those at higher risk, according to the American Cancer Society and American Urological Association. A US study from 2016 estimates that 33.4% undergo prostate-specific antigen screening above the age of 50. However, around 7% still undertake the screening before the youngest recommended age of 40.

Currently, a paradigm shift is ongoing regarding the optimal treatment for early prostate cancer, with guidelines changing to recommend a less aggressive approach — active surveillance. In men with low-risk cancer, active surveillance in the US increased sharply from 26.5% in 2014 to 59.6% in 2021.

For intermediate to high-risk localized prostate cancer, the typically recommended treatment includes radical prostatectomy, the removal of the prostate, followed by radiotherapy as an alternative option or follow-up treatment. According to the American Urological Association's Quality Registry, robot-assisted prostatectomy is currently used for 80 to 90% of prostate removal procedures in the US.

On the other hand, for those with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer, a US study from 2013 to 2020 found that in over 2,500 patients, 63% relied on androgen receptor pathway blockers, followed by 11% on taxane chemotherapy (e.g. docetaxel), 11% on other combination therapies, 6% on radium-223, and 6% on sipuleucel-T.

The ProtecT UK trial (2896 men) studied post-treatment quality-of-life across active surveillance, prostatectomy and radiotherapy, and may provide some estimates for what patients could expect after each treatment option.

Before treatment, only 1% of all participants needed to use absorbent pads to cope with incontinence issues.

Regular absorbent pad usage reported in each treatment group (after 6 months):

• Prostatectomy: Increased to 46% (after 6 years, reduced to 17%)
• Radiotherapy: Increased to 5%
• Active surveillance: Increased to 4%

Before treatment, 67% of all participants were able to form erections firm enough for intercourse.

Ability to enjoy satisfactory erections reported in each treatment group (after 6 months):

• Prostatectomy: Reduced to 12%
• Radiotherapy: Reduced to 22%
• Active surveillance: Reduced to 52%

Additionally, while bowel functions remained unchanged after prostatectomy and active surveillance, patients who underwent radiotherapy faced bowel difficulties (e.g. inability to control bowel movements and watery or bloody stools) for up to two years after treatment.

Ultimately, while these statistics are helpful in predicting outcomes for a large population, it is important to note that these percentages only reflect a small population sample size, over a short period of time. What works for others may still vary for you due to differences in age, genetics, health and other factors. Beyond that, the side effects that you face may still taper off over time, and improve long after your treatment ends.

Prostate cancer management thus needs to be carefully balanced according to your situation and the latest data available. Guidelines will likely continue to update over time and reflect new discoveries as researchers collect more long-term data from ongoing trials.