What you need to know about prostate cancer

Thousands of men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year.

The American Cancer Society projects 174,650 men will be diagnosed in 2019 alone.

The prognosis varies by patient, but here’s a primer on prostate cancer. will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. most common among older and African-American men. The average age of diagnosis is 66, accord-

ing to the American Cancer Society. other areas of the body if the cancer has spread, weakness or numbness in the legs or feet, or loss of bladder or bowel control.

The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test and digital rectal exams are used to screen for prostate cancer. Doctors must confirm the presence of cancer with a prostate biopsy.

Dr. Sanford J. Siegel, chairman of Chesapeake Urology, said early diagnosis is key.

“If you can diagnose this disease early you can save lives,” said Siegel, who treats patients with prostate cancer and was also diagnosed with an aggressive

There are four main stages of prostate cancer (I through IV), which are further broken down by letter grades. Doctors determine the stage of cancer based on factors including the extent of the main tumor, whether the cancer has spread to lymph nodes and other parts of the body, the PSA level at the time of diagnosis and the “Gleason score” or grade group, which is based on how abnormal the tissue appears under a

A: About one in 41 men diagnosed with prostate cancer die from it, according to the American Cancer Society, which says it is the secondleading cause of cancer death in men behind lung cancer. The organization estimates 31,620 men will die from prostate cancer in 2019. African-American men are more than twice as likely to die of prostate cancer as their white counterparts, according to the cancer society.

Survival rates vary by the stage of cancer. For prostate cancers that are local – which have not spread to other areas of the body – the five-year survival rate is nearly 100 percent, meaning nearly

Q: Are there different types of prostate cancer?

A:

Fotolia Almost 175,000 men are expected to be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year.