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| 13 Prostate Cancer |
| Praise be you, my Lord, with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, who is the day through whom you give us light. St. Francis of Assisi |
| Prostate cancer is a growing health problem throughout the Western world. In America, it is now the most common cancer in men and the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths. The number of diagnosed cases of prostate cancer has more than tripled in the last decade. Current statistics show that the disease now accounts for one-third of all U.S. male cancers, with an estimated 179,300 cases and 37,000 deaths in 1999. 1 |
| Current estimates indicate that one in nine men will be diagnosed with this disease during his lifetime (a statistic very similar to female breast cancer estimates). Only one out of three men diagnosed with prostate cancer will die of the disease, and in at least 25 percent of all cases, no treatment is required because of the advanced age of the patients and the fact that their cancer is so slow-growing it will not ever become harmful before they die of other age-related causes. |
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