Prostate cancer rates are highest among Black people assigned male at birth, but survival rates are very high across the board.

Image Credit: adamkaz/E+/GettyImages

In This Article

    Worldwide Prevalence
  
    U.S. Prevalence
  
    Demographics
  
    Risk Factors
  
    Mortality
  
    Survival Rates
  
    Screening and Treatment
  
    Funding and Cost
  After skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer among people assigned male at birth (AMAB) — so much so that about 1 in 8 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).

  Advertisement
 There's reason to be optimistic, though: Although the disease is being diagnosed more frequently than in years past, most people who have prostate cancer won't die of it, according to the ACS.

  Video of the Day
  Here's a closer look at who is most likely to get prostate cancer both around the world and in the U.S.

Worldwide Prevalence of Prostate Cancer Prostate cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in the world among people AMAB, according to the World Cancer Research Fund International (WCRF). In 2020, more than 1.4 million people worldwide were newly diagnosed with the disease.

  Advertisement
 In people AMAB, prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in 112 countries, according to a February 2021 paper in ​CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians​.

By Country Here are the 10 countries with the highest incidence rate of prostate country in the world, along with their new cases in 2020, according to the WCRF:

  Advertisement

​Guadeloupe:​ 722 new cases; 183.6 per 100,000 ​Martinique:​ 659 new cases; 168.2 per 100,000 ​Ireland:​ 4,503 new cases; 110.7 per 100,000 ​Barbados:​ 279 new cases; 110.3 per 100,000 ​Saint Lucia:​ 135 new cases; 103.2 per 100,000 ​Estonia:​ 1,228 new cases; 102.1 per 100,000 ​Puerto Rico:​ 2,742 new cases; 101.2 per 100,000 ​Sweden:​ 10,949 new cases; 100.4 per 100,000 ​France:​ 66,070 new cases; 99 per 100,000 ​Bahamas:​ 201 new cases; 98 per 100,000

  Advertisement
 Prostate Cancer in the U.S.

Here’s a breakdown of prostate cancer statistics in the U.S. as a whole, according to the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER).

In 2022, an estimated 268,490 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in people AMAB. Prostate cancer diagnoses make up 14 percent of all new cancer cases in the U.S. Approximately 12.6 percent of people AMAB will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some time in their life. In 2019, an estimated 3.25 million people AMAB were living with prostate cancer in the U.S.

  Advertisement
 
  Advertisement
 By State

Below are the new cases of prostate cancer in people AMAB broken down by state (including Washington, D.C.), along with a look at how many people per 100,000 were diagnosed in the year 2019, according to the most recent stats from U.S. Cancer Statistics, The Official Federal Cancer Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

​Alabama:​ 3,727 new cases; 118 per 100,000 ​Alaska:​ 406 new cases; 98 per 100,000 ​Arizona:​ 3,263 new cases; 69 per 100,000 ​Arkansas:​ 2,713 new cases; 113 per 100,000 ​California:​ 21,769 new cases; 98 per 100,000 ​Colorado:​ 3,137 new cases; 94 per 100,000 ​Connecticut:​ 3,129 new cases; 132 per 100,000 ​Delaware:​ 889 new cases; 129 per 100,000 ​District of Columbia:​ 424 new cases; 132 per 100,000 ​Florida:​ 13,769 new cases; 88 per 100,000 ​Georgia:​ 8,190 new cases; 139 per 100,000 ​Hawaii:​ 1,005 new cases; 104 per 100,000 ​Idaho:​ 1,402 new cases; 125 per 100,000 ​Illinois:​ 8,788 new cases; 114 per 100,000 ​Indiana:​ 3,775 new cases; 92 per 100,000 ​Iowa:​ 2,630 new cases; 128 per 100,000 ​Kansas:​ 2,038 new cases; 115 per 100,000 ​Kentucky:​ 3,141 new cases; 111 per 100,000 ​Louisiana:​ 4,118 new cases; 147 per 100,000 ​Maine:​ 1,149 new cases; 107 per 100,000 ​Maryland:​ 5,170 new cases; 141 per 100,000 ​Massachusetts:​ 4,855 new cases; 111 per 100,000 ​Michigan:​ 7,810 new cases; 116 per 100,000 ​Minnesota:​ 3,880 new cases; 108 per 100,000 ​Mississippi:​ 2,562 new cases; 141 per 100,000 ​Missouri:​ 3,749 new cases; 95 per 100,000 ​Montana:​ 1,057 new cases; 133 per 100,000 ​Nebraska:​ 1,537 new cases; 130 per 100,000 ​Nevada:​ State data of new cases was unavailable at the time of publishing ​New Hampshire:​ 1,206 new cases; 121 per 100,000 ​New Jersey:​ 8,125 new cases; 146 per 100,000 ​New Mexico:​ 1,208 new cases; 86 per 100,000 ​New York:​ 16,730 new cases; 139 per 100,000 ​North Carolina:​ 8,438 new cases; 130 per 100,000 ​North Dakota:​ 580 new cases; 124 per 100,000 ​Ohio:​ 9,105 new cases; 119 per 100,000 ​Oklahoma:​ 2,489 new cases; 105 per 100,000 ​Oregon:​ 2,759 new cases; 97 per 100,000 ​Pennsylvania:​ 9,996 new cases; 113 per 100,000 ​Rhode Island:​ 915 new cases; 131 per 100,000 ​South Carolina:​ 3,715 new cases; 109 per 100,000 ​South Dakota:​ 700 new cases; 121 per 100,000 ​Tennessee:​ 4,936 new cases; 115 per 100,000 ​Texas:​ 15,441 new cases; 105 per 100,000 ​Utah:​ 1,681 new cases; 115 per 100,000 ​Vermont:​ 519 new cases; 109 per 100,000 ​Virginia:​ 5,143 new cases; 99 per 100,000 ​Washington:​ 4,684 new cases; 101 per 100,000 ​West Virginia:​ 1,354 new cases; 100 per 100,000 ​Wisconsin:​ 5,018 new cases; 126 per 100,000 ​Wyoming:​ 449 new cases; 112 per 100,000

  Advertisement
 
  Advertisement
 Prostate Cancer Demographics

Prostate cancer only occurs in people AMAB and is more common in older people than younger ones. It’s also more likely to occur in those with a history of prostate cancer as well as Black people AMAB, according to SEER. Here’s a further breakdown of who gets prostate cancer, and which population groups are most at risk.

  Advertisement
 By Age

Prostate cancer is rare among people AMAB who are under the age of 40, according to the ACS, with more than half the cases occurring in those age 65 and older. Most people who are diagnosed with prostate cancer are between the ages of 65 and 74, according to SEER. The median age at diagnosis for prostate cancer in the U.S. is 67 years old. Here’s a look at the percentage of new prostate cancer cases broken down by age, according to SEER:

  Advertisement

​Ages 35 to 44:​ 0.3 percent ​Ages 45 to 54:​ 7.2 percent ​Ages 55 to 64:​ 31.5 percent ​Ages 65 to 74:​ 41.3 percent ​Ages 75 to 84:​ 15.8 percent ​Ages 85 and older:​ 3.9 percent

By Race and Ethnicity Here’s a look at what race has the highest prostate cancer rate and which groups are most affected by the disease, according to SEER:

​Non-Hispanic Black adults:​ 183.4 per 100,000 ​Non-Hispanic White adults:​ 110 per 100,000 ​Hispanic adults:​ 88.6 per 100,000 ​American Indian/Alaskan Native adults:​ 70.3 per 100,000 ​Asian/Pacific Islanders:​ 59.6 per 100,000

By Sex Prostate cancer occurs in people AMAB (who have a prostate gland) and doesn’t develop in people assigned female at birth (AFAB).

  Advertisement
 Related Reading 6 Science-Backed Tips to Help Prevent Prostate Cancer

Stats on Prostate Cancer Risk Factors It’s not always clear why someone develops prostate cancer, but there are a few factors that can increase a person’s risk. Here are some important statistics to be aware of:

The most common risk factor for prostate cancer is age, according to the CDC. Prostate cancer is rare for people under the age of 40, but the risk increases rapidly in those ages 65 and older. About 5 to 10 percent of prostate cancer cases are believed to be caused by genetics, according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. In particular, the ACS says that the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations (the same ones that cause breast cancer in people AFAB) have been linked to an increased prostate cancer risk. The likelihood of getting prostate cancer from genetic changes may be higher among people who have more than one first-degree relative who had prostate cancer, according to the CDC.

Prostate Cancer Mortality People with prostate cancer often have high survival rates, mainly because early detection methods tend to catch it before it spreads to other parts of the body, according to SEER. There are more than 3 million people in the U.S. who are currently living with prostate cancer — and while most people who’ve been diagnosed with the disease don’t die from it, this cancer can lead to death. Here are some statistics about the mortality rates of prostate cancer and why there’s reason to be optimistic. Worldwide Prostate Cancer Mortality

Prostate cancer is the fifth-leading cause of cancer deaths among people AMAB worldwide, accounting for 375,000 deaths in 2020, according to the paper in ​CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians​. The same paper also reported that prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in 48 countries, including many in sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

  Advertisement
 Here's a look at the top 10 countries for prostate cancer deaths in 2020:

​Zimbabwe:​ 868; 41.7 per 100,000 ​Barbados:​ 137; 40.3 per 100,000 ​Haiti:​ 1,533; 40.2 per 100,000 ​Zambia:​ 823; 40.1 per 100,000 ​Jamaica:​ 844; 39.4 per 100,000 ​Trinidad and Tobago:​ 403; 38.9 per 100,000 ​Bahamas:​ 72; 36.3 per 100,000 ​Dominican Republic:​ 2,228; 35 per 100,000 ​Saint Lucia:​ 54; 32.6 per 100,000 ​Côte d’Ivoire:​ 1,600; 29.5 per 100,000

U.S. Prostate Cancer Mortality

About 1 in 41 people AMAB will die from prostate cancer in the U.S., according to the ACS. An estimated 34,500 deaths from prostate cancer will occur in 2022, according to SEER. Black people AMAB have the highest prostate cancer death rate (37.9 per 100,000). American Indian/Alaska Native people have the second-highest cancer death rate (21 per 100,000), followed by White people (17.8 per 100,000), Hispanic people (15.6 per 100,000) and Asian/Pacific Islander people (8.6 per 100,000), according to SEER. SEER data shows that the percentage of prostate cancer deaths is highest among men ages 75 to 84. The median age of death from prostate cancer is 80 years old. The death rates for prostate cancer, when adjusted for age, have been declining by an average of 1.5 percent each year from 2010 to 2019, according to SEER.

Prostate Cancer Survival Rates Here’s a breakdown of the five-year survival rate for people with prostate cancer between 2011 and 2017, from the ACS. The numbers are broken down by three stages: localized (meaning the cancer hasn’t spread outside the prostate gland), regional (the cancer has spread to nearby areas outside the prostate gland) and distant (the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, like the lungs, liver or bones). Here are the numbers:

​Localized:​ >99 percent ​Regional:​ >99 percent ​Distant:​ 31 percent ​All stages combined:​ 98 percent

Prostate Cancer Screening and Treatment Stats To screen for prostate cancer, some people get a PSA (prostate specific antigen) test, which measures the levels of PSA in the blood. Higher levels of PSA can be linked to prostate cancer. There are pros and cons to PSA screening. While the test can detect prostate cancer early, allowing the disease to be treated before it spreads, the test can also give people false positives — meaning they have high PSA levels but don’t have prostate cancer. People who are 55 to 69 should talk to their doctor about whether they should get a PSA screening (for example, if prostate cancer runs in your family, you may be a candidate); experts don’t recommend routine screening for those ages 70 and older, according to the CDC. Here are some more stats about prostate cancer screening.

For every 1,000 men who are screened between the ages of 55 and 69, about 1 death will be prevented and 3 people will be prevented from getting prostate cancer that spreads to other areas in the body, according to the CDC. In 2018, 39 percent of people age 55 to 69 had a PSA screening within the past year, according to data from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). 40.4 percent of White people had a PSA screening within the past year, according to 2018 data from the NCI; this is compared to 37 percent of Black people and 33.2 percent of Hispanic people. 44.6 percent of people ages 70 and older had a PSA test within the past year, according to NCI data from 2018; this is compared to 39 percent of people ages 55 to 69, and 13.4 percent of people aged 40 to 54.

Treatment by the Numbers Not all prostate cancers grow quickly. If that’s the case, doctors sometimes recommend active surveillance (i.e., doing regular PSA testing or biopsies) or watchful waiting (in which you wait for symptoms to develop before doing further treatment).

A May 2011 study in ​BJU International​ that tracked people with localized prostate cancer from 1991 to 2005 found that there was a 100 percent survival rate after 10 years of managing the disease with watchful waiting. The same study found that 95 percent of those people were free of prostate cancer metastasis after 10 years.

Prostate Cancer Funding and Cost There are a few national organizations that are dedicating to fighting cancer and supporting treatment and research advances. Here are some of the bigger ones:

ZERO – The End of Prostate Cancer is a national nonprofit organization that has dedicated $110 million to uncovering new prostate cancer treatments. The PCF raised more than $43 million for prostate cancer in 2020.

National Cost of Prostate Cancer Care The estimated cost of prostate cancer in 2020 was $22.3 million dollars, according to the NCI.

The estimated cost of prescription drugs for prostate cancer in 2020 was $1.7 million, according to the NCI. In 2020, the estimated cost of treating prostate cancer in a person at the initial stage of their diagnosis was just over $28,000, according to the NCI. The cost of continued care is $2,602, and the cost during the last year of life is about $74,000. In 2020, the estimated cost for a person’s oral prescription medication for prostate cancer was $312 at the initial diagnosis, according to the NCI. The costs for continued medication was also $312 per person. During the last year of life, the cost of prescription medication is estimated to be $5,800.

            The Best and Worst Foods to Eat When You Have Prostate Cancer
           by
          Sarah Pflugradt
          
            Why Exercise Is Important When You Have Prostate Cancer, and the Best Workouts to Do
           by
          Maria Masters
          
            6 Natural Remedies for an Enlarged Prostate, and 3 to Skip
           by
          Amanda Gardner
          
            The 5 Best Prostate-Friendly Bicycle Seats, According to Urologists and Cycling Coaches
           by
          Lauren Bedosky
        
  Advertisement
 
  Advertisement
  
  references
  
      Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "Prostate Cancer Who Is at Risk?"
    
      Prostate Cancer Foundation: "What Causes Prostate Cancer?"
    
      American Cancer Society: "Survival Rates for Prostate Cancer"
    
      Center for Disease Control and Prevention: "What Are Some of the Benefits and Harms of Screening?"
    
      National Cancer Institute: "Prostate Cancer Screening"
    
      ZERO-The End of Prostate Cancer: "Why Zero?"
    
      World Cancer Research Fund International: "Prostate cancer statistics"
    
      CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians: "Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 Countries"
    
      BJU International: "Watchful waiting for localized prostate cancer in the PSA era: what have been the triggers for intervention?"
     Is this an emergency?
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, please see the
National Library of Medicine’s list
of signs you need emergency medical attention or call 911.





  references
  
      Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "Prostate Cancer Who Is at Risk?"
    
      Prostate Cancer Foundation: "What Causes Prostate Cancer?"
    
      American Cancer Society: "Survival Rates for Prostate Cancer"
    
      Center for Disease Control and Prevention: "What Are Some of the Benefits and Harms of Screening?"
    
      National Cancer Institute: "Prostate Cancer Screening"
    
      ZERO-The End of Prostate Cancer: "Why Zero?"
    
      World Cancer Research Fund International: "Prostate cancer statistics"
    
      CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians: "Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 Countries"
    
      BJU International: "Watchful waiting for localized prostate cancer in the PSA era: what have been the triggers for intervention?"

Is this an emergency? If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, please see the National Library of Medicine’s list of signs you need emergency medical attention or call 911.

Prostate cancer rates are highest among Black people assigned male at birth, but survival rates are very high across the board.

Image Credit: adamkaz/E+/GettyImages

Image Credit: adamkaz/E+/GettyImages

  • Worldwide Prevalence
  • U.S. Prevalence
  • Demographics
  • Risk Factors
  • Mortality
  • Survival Rates
  • Screening and Treatment
  • Funding and Cost

6 Science-Backed Tips to Help Prevent Prostate Cancer

            The Best and Worst Foods to Eat When You Have Prostate Cancer
           by
          Sarah Pflugradt
          
            Why Exercise Is Important When You Have Prostate Cancer, and the Best Workouts to Do
           by
          Maria Masters
          
            6 Natural Remedies for an Enlarged Prostate, and 3 to Skip
           by
          Amanda Gardner
          
            The 5 Best Prostate-Friendly Bicycle Seats, According to Urologists and Cycling Coaches
           by
          Lauren Bedosky
        


      Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "Prostate Cancer Who Is at Risk?"
    
      Prostate Cancer Foundation: "What Causes Prostate Cancer?"
    
      American Cancer Society: "Survival Rates for Prostate Cancer"
    
      Center for Disease Control and Prevention: "What Are Some of the Benefits and Harms of Screening?"
    
      National Cancer Institute: "Prostate Cancer Screening"
    
      ZERO-The End of Prostate Cancer: "Why Zero?"
    
      World Cancer Research Fund International: "Prostate cancer statistics"
    
      CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians: "Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 Countries"
    
      BJU International: "Watchful waiting for localized prostate cancer in the PSA era: what have been the triggers for intervention?"