Prostate Cancer Risk

Age. The greatest risk factor for prostate cancer is age. This risk increases significantly after the age of 50 in white men who have no relatives history of the disease and after the age of 40 in black men and men who have a close relative with prostate cancer. About two-thirds of all prostate cancers are diagnosed in men age 65 and older.

All men are in danger for developing prostate cancer. About man in six will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in the work of his lifetime, but man in 36 will die of this disease. About 80 percent of men who reach age 80 have prostate cancer cells in their prostate. Besides being male, there's other factors, such as age, race, and relatives history that may contribute to the risk.

Relatives history. Men whose relatives have had prostate cancer are thought about to be at high risk. Having a sister or sister with the disease over doubles your risk for prostate cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. Having a sister with prostate cancer appears to increase your risk over having an affected sister does. That risk is even higher when there's multiple relatives members affected. Screening for prostate cancer ought to be started at age 40 in these men.

Studies have identified several inherited genes that appear to increase prostate cancer risk. Testing for these genes is not yet obtainable. Specialists estimate that the hereditary kind of prostate cancer accounts for 5% to 10% of all cases.

Some specialists theorize that this suggests an environmental connection, possibly related to high-fat diets, less exposure to the sun, exposure to heavy metals such as cadmium, infectious agents, or smoking. To date, the reasons for these racial differences are not understood.

Race. Prostate cancer occurs about 60% more often in African American men than in white American men and when diagnosed is more likely to be advanced. However, Japanese and African males living in their native countries have a low incidence of prostate cancer. Rates for these groups increase sharply when they immigrate to the U.S. African Americans are the second group of men for whom prostate cancer testing ought to start at age 40.

Diet. Research also suggests high dietary fat could be a contributing factor for prostate cancer. The disease is much more common in countries where meat and dairy products are dietary staples compared to countries where the basic diet consists of rice, soybean products, and vegetables.

Eating a diet high in the antioxidant lycopene (present in high levels in some fruits and vegetables, such as tomatoes, pink grapefruit, and watermelon) may lower your risk of developing prostate cancer according to several studies.