What Increases Your Risk

A risk is anything that makes you more likely to get a particular disease. Being older than 50 is the main risk for prostate cancer. At least 6 out of 10 new prostate cancers are diagnosed in men who are 65 and older.³

Your chances of getting the disease are higher if other men in your family have had it. Your risk is doubled if your father or brother developed prostate cancer. Your risk also depends on the age at which your relative was diagnosed. Most men who get prostate cancer have no family history of the disease.

Race and prostate cancer

African-American men and Jamaican men of African descent have a greater chance of developing the kind of prostate cancer that grows and spreads. Researchers are not sure why there is a difference in disease and death rates among different races. Some experts think there may be a genetic link.⁴

When To Call a Doctor

Call your doctor immediately if you:

• Are completely unable to urinate.
• Have painful urination and a fever higher than 100°F (37.78°C), chills, or body aches.
• Have blood or pus in your urine or semen.

Call your doctor to schedule an appointment if you have unexplained:

• Weight loss.
• Dull, aching pain in your lower back, pelvis, or hips.
• Swollen lymph nodes in the groin area. These nodes are usually not tender.

Active surveillance

Active surveillance (watchful waiting) may mean not trying to get rid of the cancer. If an older man has serious health problems and isn't expected to live long, he may not be able to handle treatments or even want to have treatments except those needed to keep him comfortable (palliative care).

But active surveillance sometimes means a man will be watched closely by his doctor and have regular checkups. If the cancer starts to grow more quickly, he will have other treatment.

Active surveillance may not be a choice when prostate cancer has spread.

Sometimes men who have PSA levels that are rising slowly after having treatment may not start hormone treatments right away but be monitored with active surveillance.

Who to see

Doctors who can treat locally advanced and metastatic prostate cancer include:

• Urologists.
• Urologic oncologists.
• Radiation oncologists.
• Medical oncologists.

To prepare for your appointment, see the topic Making the Most of Your Appointment.