Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Apr;10(2):63-89.
doi: 10.14740/wjon1191. Epub 2019 Apr 20.

Epidemiology of Prostate Cancer

Prashanth Rawla  1
Affiliations
Review

Epidemiology of Prostate Cancer

Prashanth Rawla. World J Oncol. 2019 Apr.

Abstract

Prostate cancer is the second most frequent cancer diagnosis made in men and the fifth leading cause of death worldwide. Prostate cancer may be asymptomatic at the early stage and often has an indolent course that may require only active surveillance. Based on GLOBOCAN 2018 estimates, 1,276,106 new cases of prostate cancer were reported worldwide in 2018, with higher prevalence in the developed countries. Differences in the incidence rates worldwide reflect differences in the use of diagnostic testing. Prostate cancer incidence and mortality rates are strongly related to the age with the highest incidence being seen in elderly men (> 65 years of age). African-American men have the highest incidence rates and more aggressive type of prostate cancer compared to White men. There is no evidence yet on how to prevent prostate cancer; however, it is possible to lower the risk by limiting high-fat foods, increasing the intake of vegetables and fruits and performing more exercise. Screening is highly recommended at age 45 for men with familial history and African-American men. Up-to-date statistics on prostate cancer occurrence and outcomes along with a better understanding of the etiology and causative risk factors are essential for the primary prevention of this disease.

Keywords: Epidemiology; Etiology; Incidence; Mortality; Prevention; Prostate cancer; Risk factors; Survival; Trends.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors have conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map showing estimated age-standardized incidence rates for prostate cancer worldwide in 2018, in males including all ages. Created with mapchart.net. Data obtained from Globocan 2018 [2].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Map showing estimated age-standardized mortality rates for prostate cancer worldwide in 2018, in males including all ages. Created with mapchart.net. Data obtained from Globocan 2018 [2].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bar chart showing estimated age-standardized incidence and mortality rates (world) in 2018, prostate, males, all ages. Data obtained from Globocan 2018 [2].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Recent trends of prostate cancer mortality rates in USA in 2000 - 2015 by race/ethnicity. Data source: US Mortality Files, National Center for Health Statistics, CDC [11].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Bray F, Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Siegel RL, Torre LA, Jemal A. Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2018;68(6):394–424. doi: 10.3322/caac.21492. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ferlay J EM, Lam F, Colombet M, Mery L, Pineros M, Znaor A, Soerjomataram I. et al. Global cancer observatory: cancer today. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer. Available from: https://gco.iarc.fr/today, Accessed 02 February 2019. [Internet]
    1. Panigrahi GK, Praharaj PP, Kittaka H, Mridha AR, Black OM, Singh R, Mercer R. et al. Exosome proteomic analyses identify inflammatory phenotype and novel biomarkers in African American prostate cancer patients. Cancer Med. 2019 doi: 10.1002/cam4.1885. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ferlay J EM, Lam F, Colombet M, Mery L, Pineros M, Znaor A, Soerjomataram I. et al. Global cancer observatory: cancer tomorrow. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer. Available from: https://gco.iarc.fr/tomorrow, Accessed 02 February 2019. [Internet]
    1. Chan JM, Gann PH, Giovannucci EL. Role of diet in prostate cancer development and progression. J Clin Oncol. 2005;23(32):8152–8160. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2005.03.1492. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources