A patient’s prognosis, or his chance of recovery depends on a number of things. Firstly, the stage of the cancer or how far gone the disease is in his body. This is crucial as knowing how widespread the disease is and how much of the prostate and other body parts it has affected can determine the success of treatments.

It is also important to consider the patient’s health and age. Such factors can indicate the body’s ability to withstand the treatment procedures and to recuperate after being subjected to radiation, chemotherapy, etc.

Lastly, it is important to know whether the cancer is newly-discovered or is a recurrence of a previous infection.

Photo credits: Sara Petrova

There are many factors involved in whether or not you will get prostate cancer and, if you are diagnosed, what your prostate cancer survival rates might be. It may not be a pleasant thing to talk about, but here are some facts:

Your age: All men have a risk of prostate cancer. The odds of you getting prostate cancer over your lifetime are one in ten. It is unusual for a man under the age of 60 to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. But, once you reach your 60s, your odds now begin to rise with 70% of all prostate cancer diagnoses in men over the age of 65. Once you reach your 70s you now have a one and three chance for a prostate cancer diagnoses.

Your family history: If prostate cancer runs in your immediate family, your father or brothers, you are 11 times more likely than the average man to develop prostate cancer.

Your Ethnicity: With nearly 2.4 times higher death rates than Caucasian men, African-American men are recommended to get earlier screening.

Your Diet and obesity: As studies show, your diet may affect your chances of developing prostate cancer. The death rates for obese men are increased.

Your prostate cancer survival rate depends greatly on which stage your cancer is diagnosed. There are the four stages:

T1 Stage: Only through a microscope can this stage of cancer be detected. The risks at this stage are very low and may only require careful watching, not treatment. Symptoms of the disease may not be felt at this stage.

T2 Stage: Now the cancer can be felt during a DRE (Digital Rectal Examination). At this stage, the disease is often curable and about 70% of men are still living after 5 years. Symptoms may or may not be felt at this stage.

T3 Stage: At this stage, the cancer is locally advanced and is invading outside the prostate gland. The chance of a cure at this stage is reduced and survival rate is around 5 years. There could be symptoms at this stage, especially in the bladder.

T4 Stage: This is the most advanced stage as the cancer has now spread to the structures around the gland. There are usually secondaries involved like bone metastases. The survival rate is now between 1 and 3 years, as it is usually incurable now.

Your prostate cancer survival rate is very hard to predict. Early diagnosis is key. Other factors are age and overall health of the patient, how quickly your PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) is rising and your Gleason score. A Gleason score looks at the cancer under a microscope, checks its aggressiveness and how much of the gland is affected. The good news is that 99% of men survive at least five years after being diagnosed, the 10 year survival rate is 92% and 61% will survive at least 15 years. So get your recommended exams starting at age 50 for the average man and 45 for those with higher risk factors.

The majority of men will develop an enlarged prostate sometime in their lifetime. The symptoms include: difficulting in starting urination, weak flow of urination, need to urinate frequently.

Men that suffer from these symptoms should seek medical advice to ensure that it only an enlarged prostate that is causing the problem, and not prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the second largest cause of cancer deaths among men, second only to lung cancer. One of the problems with prostate cancer, is that the symptoms typically do not show up in the early stages of the disease, and when they do manifest themselves, it is often in the late stages of the disease and makes it difficult to treat.

The main symptoms of prostate cancer include the same symptoms as an enlarged prostate, but the advanced stages also include: Pain in back, hips and thighs; unexplained weight loss; feeling of tiredness.

Most prostate cancers are treated by surgery or radiation therapy. At the present time, there is not a good chemotherapy option for the early stages of prostate cancer. Surgery is the most common method of treating the early stages of prostate cancer. But there are risks with any type of surgery, and many men are turning to radiation treatment.

Radiation therapy works by killing the cancer cells and not killing the adjacent healthy cells. The two most common methods for radiation therapy include seed therapy and external beam radiation therapy.

Seed therapy involves implanting a small amount (a seed) of radioactive material in the prostate. The radioactive material will last about two years, in which time the cancerous cells have been killed.

External Beam radiation therapy is a painless, out patient procedure where a beam is aimed at the affected areas. If the area has spread, the radiation can be aimed at it as well. The treatment takes place five days a week over a seven week period.

The side effects of prostrate cancer radiation treatment include incontinence, impotence, and fatigue. Not all patients suffer from these side effects.

Treatment for the early stages of prostate cancer is usually successful. However, if the prostate cancer is not identified in its early stages, then the success rate drops dramatically. This is why all men over the age of 50 should have a yearly check up to identify prostrate cancer early.