The month of September is both Prostate and Thyroid Cancer Awareness month; here are the most frequently asked questions according to Prostate Cancer Foundation and ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc.:
Prostate:
- While being the 4th most common tumor diagnosed worldwide, prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in America.
- 1 in 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime; for men of African descent, 1 in 6 will develop the disease.
- A man of African descent is 76% more likely to develop prostate cancer and is nearly 2.2 times more likely to die from the disease.
- Over 174,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and nearly 32,000 men will from the disease in 2019. One new case occurs every 3 minutes and a man dies from the disease every 17 minutes.
- A non-smoking man is more likely to develop prostate cancer than he is to develop colon, bladder, melanoma, lymphoma, and kidney cancers combined.
- It is estimated that more than 4 million American men are living with prostate cancer.
- As men increase in age, their risk of developing prostate cancer increases exponentially. About 6 in 10 cases are found in men over the age of 65.
- Men with relatives, father, brother, or son, with a history of prostate cancer, are twice as likely to develop the disease.
- If the cancer is caught at its earliest stages, most men will not experience any symptoms.
- 99% of patients live 5 years or longer after diagnosis.
Thyroid:
- Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine cancer.
- Thyroid cancer is a malignant tumor or growth originating within the thyroid gland. It is also called thyroid carcinoma.
- Thyroid cancer is one of the few cancers that has increased in incidence over recent years. More than 53,000 people will be newly diagnosed with thyroid cancer in the United States in 2018. More than 300,000 people will be newly diagnosed worldwide in the same year. In the United States, more than 600,000 people are living with thyroid cancer.
- Thyroid cancer occurs in all age groups, from young children through seniors. About 2 of every 3 people diagnosed with thyroid cancer are between ages 20 and 55.
- Thyroid cancer is more common in women than in men. More than 7 of 10 people diagnosed with thyroid cancer are female.
- The cause of most thyroid cancer is unknown.
- People have a higher chance of getting thyroid cancer if they were exposed to large amounts of radiation during childhood, or received radiation treatment for medical problems in the head and neck area at a young age. The cancer may not occur until 20 years or more after the radiation exposure. However, most people with such exposure do not get thyroid cancer, and most people with thyroid cancer did not have such exposure.
- The prognosis for any individual with thyroid cancer depends on several factors. These include the type of thyroid cancer, the tumor size, whether the disease has spread (metastasized) to other parts of the body (especially distant sites), and the patients’ age at the time of diagnosis.
- Thyroid cancer is usually highly treatable when found early.
- Thyroid cancer is one of the few cancers that has increased in incidence in recent years. It has become the 5th most common cancer in women.
For more information on prostate cancer screening and when you should begin, please visit here; and click here for your free Prostate Cancer Patient Guide.
To sign up for a newsletter from ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. and to receive a free Patient Information Packet, as well as information on free support services, treatment, and follow-up care, please click here.