Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program
Turning Cancer Data Into Discovery

At a Glance

Number of New Cases and Deaths per 100,000: The number of new cases of prostate cancer was 147.8 per 100,000 men per year. The number of deaths was 22.3 per 100,000 men per year. These rates are age-adjusted and based on 2007-2011 cases and deaths.

Lifetime Risk of Developing Cancer: Approximately 15.0 percent of men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point during their lifetime, based on 2009-2011 data.

Prevalence of this cancer: In 2011, there were an estimated 2,707,821 men living with prostate cancer in the United States.

How Many People Survive 5 Years Or More after Being Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer?

Relative survival statistics compare the survival of patients diagnosed with cancer with the survival of people in the general population who are the same age, race, and sex and who have not been diagnosed with cancer. Because survival statistics are based on large groups of people, they cannot be used to predict exactly what will happen to an individual patient. No two patients are entirely alike, and treatment and responses to treatment can vary greatly.

Additional Information

• More about 5-year survival rates

Survival by Stage

Cancer stage at diagnosis, which refers to extent of a cancer in the body, determines treatment options and has a strong influence on the length of survival. In general, if the cancer is found only in the part of the body where it started it is localized (sometimes referred to as stage 1). If it has spread to a different part of the body, the stage is regional or distant. The earlier prostate cancer is caught, the better chance a person has of surviving five years after being diagnosed. For prostate cancer, 80.7% are diagnosed at the local stage. The 5-year survival for localized prostate cancer is 100.0%.

Additional Information

• More about prostate cancer staging

How Common Is This Cancer?

Compared to other cancers, prostate cancer is fairly common.

In 2014, it is estimated that there will be 233,000 new cases of prostate cancer and an estimated 29,480 people will die of this disease.

Who Gets This Cancer?

Prostate cancer occurs only in men, and it is more common in older men than younger men. It is more likely to occur in men with a family history of prostate cancer and men of African American descent. The number of new cases of prostate cancer was 147.8 per 100,000 men per year based on 2007-2011 cases.

Who Dies From This Cancer?

Because we have screening for prostate cancer, most of the time it is caught before it spreads to other parts of the body. Men who have prostate cancer that is characterized as localized or regional are not as likely to die as men whose cancer is distant. In general prostate cancer has excellent survival rates, but death rates are higher in African American men, men who have advanced stage cancer, and men who are between the ages of 75 and 84. Prostate cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The number of deaths was 22.3 per 100,000 men per year based on 2007-2011.

Changes Over Time

Keeping track of the number of new cases, deaths, and survival over time (trends) can help scientists understand whether progress is being made and where additional research is needed to address challenges, such as improving screening or finding better treatments.

Using statistical models for analysis, rates for new prostate cancer cases have been falling on average 2.4% each year over the last 10 years. Death rates have been falling on average 3.4% each year over 2002-2011. 5-year survival trends are shown below the figure.

Cancer and the Prostate

This cancer forms in tissues of the prostate (a gland in the male reproductive system found below the bladder and in front of the rectum). The prostate surrounds the urethra, the tube through which urine flows. A healthy prostate is about the size of a walnut. If the prostate grows too large, it squeezes the urethra. This may slow or stop the normal flow of urine. Prostate cancer usually occurs in older men.

Additional Information

• Learn more about prostate cancer

More Information

Here are some resources for learning more about prostate cancer.

• About risk factors for prostate cancer
• About symptoms and diagnosis of prostate cancer
• About treatment options for prostate cancer
• About clinical trials
• About preventing prostate cancer
• About the health risks of smoking and ways to quit

References

All statistics in this report are based on statistics from SEER and the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Health Statistics. Most can be found within:

Howlader N, Noone AM, Krapcho M, Garshell J, Neyman N, Altekruse SF, Kosary CL, Yu M, Ruhl J, Tatalovich Z, Cho H, Mariotto A, Lewis DR, Chen HS, Feuer EJ, Cronin KA (eds). SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2011, National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD, http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2011/, based on November 2013 SEER data submission, posted to the SEER web site, April 2014.

Suggested Citation

All material in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission; citation as to source, however, is appreciated.

SEER Cancer Statistics Factsheets: Prostate Cancer. National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD, http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/prost.html