What is prostate cancer?
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men, except for skin cancer. This cancer begins when cells in the prostate gland start to grow out of control. The prostate is a gland only found in males. Some prostate cancers grow very slowly and may not cause symptoms or problems for years; however, other types are aggressive and can spread quickly. Even when prostate cancer has spread to other parts of the body, it can often be managed for a long time.
Prostate cancer risk can run in families and it is called familial prostate cancer. This type of prostate cancer makes up for about 20% of all prostate cancers and develops due to shared gene mutations and shared lifestyle factors. About 5% of prostate cancers are part of “inherited cancers,” which are cancers that are caused by an inherited mutation in certain genes passed down within a family. An example of a genetic syndrome that can cause prostate cancer is hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome, caused by mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes.
You can read more about these kinds of cancers in the Is Cancer Genetic? article or learn more about testing for inherited cancer in the Genetic Testing for Cancer article.
About 288,300
men in the US will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2023
What are the types of prostate cancer?
Almost all prostate cancers are adenocarcinomas, malignant tumors that develop from the gland cells that make prostate secretions.
Other types of cancer that can start in the prostate include:
- Small cell carcinomas
- Neuroendocrine tumors
- Transitional cell carcinomas
- Sarcomas
Risk factors
The most common risk factors for developing prostate cancer include:
Aging: prostate cancer is most common after age 50
Race/ethnicity: certain groups may have a higher risk for developing prostate cancer than other groups
Family history of prostate cancer or if you have a family history of genes that increase the risk of breast cancer (BRCA1 or BRCA2) or a very strong family history of breast cancer
Obesity
Smoking
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
Prostatitis
Chemical exposure (Agent Orange)
Please note that the risk factors listed above are not exhaustive.
