• Prostate cancer affects 1 in 10 men.

• The World Health Organisation estimates that over 540,000 new cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed worldwide in 2000.

• In Western countries, prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer affecting men after middle age.

• Prostate cancer is common in the male population of the US and Northwest Europe but in contrast the incidence is much lower in Asia and South America.

• Historically, prostate cancer was considered a disease of old age but its prevalence is increasing in younger men.
  
  
• Compared with other types of cancer it is relatively slow growing
  
  
• A man with prostate cancer may live for many years without ever having the cancer discovered. In fact many men with prostate cancer will not die from it, but with it.
  
  
• The likelihood of surviving prostate cancer 5 years after diagnosis is good compared to other types of cancer

Figure 1: 5 year relative survival rates