(1) Prostate cancer mortality has recently declined, as pictured in the graph above. The prostate cancer mortality rate is the number of deaths from prostate cancer per 100,000 men per year. Mortality peaked in the early 1990s and began to decline in 1993, though African American men continue to have nearly double the mortality rate from prostate cancer as white men.

(2) Prostate cancer incidence has started to decline. Incidence is the number of men diagnosed with prostate cancer per 100,000 men per year. Prostate cancer incidence increased 108% in white men and 102% in black men during the period 1986 to 1993. However, incidence declined from 1993 to 1995 in both groups.

(3) Most of the increase in incidence was due to an increase in the diagnosis of localized stage prostate cancer, which is cancer diagnosed before it spreads beyond the prostate. This may reflect the increased use of the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test to screen for prostate cancer.

(4) The relative five-year survival for men diagnosed with localized stage prostate cancer now exceeds 99%. This means that 99% of men diagnosed with localized stage prostate cancer are still living five years after diagnosis.

This chart shows the number of PROGRESS families who reported other cancers in their family. The chart is based on question-naires from 1,378 PROGRESS participants. By examining other cancers that occur in families with prostate cancer it may provide clues about where to look for prostate cancer genes. One example of this approach has already been successful in PROGRESS. As we noted in our last newsletter, we recently identified a genetic region associated with both prostate cancer and brain cancer.
Aside from prostate cancer, the four most common cancer sites in PROGRESS (melanoma, lung, colon and breast) are also frequently diagnosed cancers in the U.S., so it’s not yet clear whether the cancers reported by PROGRESS families are higher than normal.

The terms first- and second-degree tell us how closely related the relatives are. First-degree relatives are the closest relations, such as parents, children, brothers, and sisters. Second-degree relatives are one further step away, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. It is important in our genetic study to determine how closely people are related because more distant relatives are less likely to share the same genes. We may be calling some families to determine how closely related the person with the other cancer is to the men in the family with prostate cancer. We greatly appreciate your ongoing participation and patience with our data collection efforts. 

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