Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the male population of the United States, second only to skin cancer. According to the American Cancer Society there were approximately 192, 280 new cases of the disease diagnosed and about 27,360 of those men will die of the disease. In addition according to the latest figures the 10 year survival rate for men diagnosed with prostate cancer in the US currently runs at 91%, with the fifteen year survival rate at about 76%.

But what do these figures really show? Is there a high survival rate for those diagnosed with prostate cancer living in the United States? Thanks to great advances in the early detection and treatment of the condition the outlook for a man diagnosed with prostate cancer is certainly far brighter than it was twenty years ago, but it is still estimated that 1 in every 35 American men will die as a result of the disease.

In the 21^st century a newly diagnosed prostate cancer patient has an ever widening range of treatment options to choose from. Which is most suited for them depends a great deal upon the stage of their disease at diagnosis.

For some older patients, or those with other serious health conditions, a regimen of expectant management or watchful waiting is often the only course of treatment initially advised. Prostate cancer tends to grow at a slow rate, so a patient being monitored in this manner is given regular PSA testing, digital rectal examination and ultrasounds to monitor the progress of the cancer, and further treatment is only implemented if the disease begins to develop significantly.

Other healthier men or those whose disease is diagnosed at a later stage choose to proceed directly to more aggressive treatments immediately. Some may choose to opt for surgery, most commonly a procedure called a radical prostatectomy, in which the entire prostate gland is removed altogether. This is most successful when the prostate cancer is still localized within the prostate and has not spread to surrounding tissues outside it.

An increasingly used method to treat prostate cancers without invasive surgery is brachytherapy. Brachytherapy is a form of internal radiation therapy, small ‘seeds” are implanted into the prostate that then, over time, deliver high concentrations of radiation designed to kill the cancer cells while sparing the healthy tissue around it. The procedure is only usually successful for those men diagnosed with prostate cancer in its early stages, but with great improvements in public awareness about the need for regular prostate testing more and more men in the US are being diagnosed at that early stage when their cancer is most easily and effectively treated.