Prostate Cancer Risk Factors
A risk factor is anything that may increase a person's chance of developing a disease. It may be an activity, such as smoking, diet, family history, or many other things.
Although these factors can increase a person's risk, they do not necessarily cause the disease. Some people with one or more risk factors never develop cancer, while others develop cancer and have no known risk factors.
In general, all men are at risk for prostate cancer. However, there are specific risk factors that increase the likelihood that certain men will develop the disease, including the following:
- Age - is a risk factor for prostate cancer, especially men age 50 and older. More than 80 percent of all prostate cancers are diagnosed in men over the age of 65.
- Race - prostate cancer is nearly twice as common among African-American men than it is among Caucasian-American men. Japanese and Chinese men native to their country have the lowest rates of prostate cancer
- Diet - epidemiological data suggests that the diet consumed in Western industrialised countries may be one of the most important contributory factors for developing prostate cancer
- Obesity - has been associated with some common cancers, including hormone-dependant tumors such as prostate
- Environmental exposures - some studies show an increased chance of prostate cancer in men who are farmers, or those exposed to the metal cadmium while making batteries, welding or electroplating
- Family history of prostate cancer - having a father or brother with prostate cancer doubles a man's risk of developing this disease
- Genetic factors - gene code controls important regulatory functions in the body such as the rate of cell growth. Some genes, when altered or mutated, give a higher risk for uncontrolled cell growth, which in turn, can lead to tumor development. These genes are referred to as "cancer susceptibility genes". Approximately 9 percent of all prostate cancers and 45 percent of cases in men younger than age 55 can be attributed to a cancer susceptibility gene that is inherited as a dominant trait (from parent to child)
Prostate cancer risk factors are more fully discussed in "I survived prostate cancer" including details of my own experience and how I came to be diagnosed.
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