Men with prostate cancer localized to their prostate or nearby structures have an exceptionally high survival rate; nearly 100% will live for five years or longer after receiving their diagnosis.
But statistics do not tell the whole picture; your outlook depends on many variables, including its stage at diagnosis and Gleason score.
Stage of Cancer
Survival rates measure how many men with specific types and stages of prostate cancer survive at least a year after being diagnosed. They don’t indicate life expectancy or cure rates; rather they allow you to understand whether treatment is working effectively. Survival rates depend on factors like how far cancer has spread at diagnosis time as well as grade grade of your cancer as well as other variables.
Prostate cancer is organized into stages based on its progression. Your outlook and how aggressively treatment will need to be determined by its stage; PSA blood tests, biopsies, imaging tests and Gleason scores all play a part.
Prostate cancers in stages I to III have an almost 100% 5-year relative survival rate, meaning nearly every man diagnosed will live for at least five years after his diagnosis. These cancers have not spread beyond the prostate gland or nearby tissues and to lymph nodes or other parts of their bodies.
Stage IV prostate cancer occurs when it has spread from its original location into other organs such as bones or liver. This stage of prostate cancer is known as metastatic or distant cancer and typically only has an estimated survival rate of 30% for men living with metastatic cancer.
Your chances of survival with prostate cancer depend on several factors, including its stage and your age. Other considerations include whether the cancer has spread and how much PSA there is in your bloodstream; an increase is more likely if cancer has spread.
Other Factors
There are various risk factors for prostate cancer, such as family history and race. While white men tend to be affected more than other races, Asian American or Hispanic men are less likely to get prostate cancer.
Your risk increases if other members of your family, particularly father and brother, have had prostate cancer. Men who carry hereditary cancer syndromes like Lynch syndrome or mutations to BRCA 1 and 2 genes also face an increased risk.
Survival rates of prostate cancer depend on its stage at diagnosis, rate of growth, and treatment plan options available to you. In its early stages and without evidence of spread, treatment may not be necessary – instead relying on screening alone. Once it has spread however, various options exist to destroy cancer cells and stop further spread – talk to your healthcare provider about possible solutions; surgery or radiation therapy may be able to remove tumors, while for advanced cases medications are usually necessary to manage symptoms and stop growth.
