The Statistics Of Prostate Cancer ……2

Worldwide  statistics show that incidence rate of Prostate Cancer varies across the  globe. Men from the developed nations have a much higher occurrence rate than those  from the developing nations. By the year 2030 the worldwide Prostate Cancer burden is expected to grow to 1.7 million new cases and 4,99,000 new deaths,  because of the growth and aging of the global population

Prostate  Cancer is the most common cancer in the United  States. Rarely seen in men below 40, percent of cases increase with age with 6  out of 10 cancers diagnosed in the elderly are likely to be Prostate Cancer.  According to the American Cancer Society’s  estimates for Prostate Cancer in the United States (2015 data) there are  about 220,800 new cases of Prostate Cancer and about 27,540 die from Prostate  Cancer. There is a likelihood of about 1 man in 7 being diagnosed with Prostate  Cancer during his lifetime as per the US Statistics. Further, Prostate Cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind only lung  cancer. About 1 man in 38 dying of Prostate Cancer, it no doubt is a  serious disease. Yet it is observed that more than 2.9 million men in the  United States who have been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer at some point  are still alive today.

It is observed  that the Prostate Cancer has become a major health problem in  industrialized world during the last decades of the 20th century contributing to three fourth of the registered cases across the globe. Highest  incidence rates of Prostate Cancer are reported from Australia, New  Zealand Western and Northern Europe, North America to the tune of ~ 104 per  100,000 people.  This has been attributed  partly to widespread use of diagnostic test viz. Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) in those regions.

Also read: Story Of A Brave Heart And A Cancer Survivor: An Interview With Debayan Sen- Part 2

Perin in 2001  has reported of Asian and North African countries having a much lower Incidence  rate of Prostate Cancer ranging from 1 to 9 /100,000 persons. Further,  demographic and epidemiological transitions in developing countries like India  have shown an increasing trend in the burden of various cancer cases including Prostate  Cancer.

The prevalence  of Prostate Cancer in India was thought to be far lower as compared to  the western countries. However, increased migration from rural to urban area,  changing life styles, increased awareness, availability of better diagnostic  methods for detection, easy access to medical facility and affordability has  resulted in diagnosing more cases of Prostate Cancer now.

Prevalence Rate means number of cases (of a particular disease) present at a particular time.  In short it refers to the number of people alive at that point of time in spite  of having that particular disease.

Incidence:  Incidence is the rate of new (or  newly diagnosed) cases of the disease, generally reported as the number of new  cases occurring within a period of time (e.g., per month, per year). It is more  meaningful when the incidence rate is reported as a fraction of the population  at risk of developing the disease (e.g., say per 100,000 or per million of population).  So, there is a number as well as time dimension.

Looking at the  Incidence Rate and Prevalence Rate of Prostate Cancer, it can be  concluded that many prostate cancers are harmless and lot many patients  with Prostate Cancer live reasonably longer life.

Yet, looking at the  present trends of increasing life expectancy and given the current trend of  age-specific increased incidence, morbidity, and mortality rates of Prostate  Cancer, it needs to be monitored better for a better future.

Considering  Indian statistics, Prostate is the second leading site of cancer for  Delhi, Kolkata, Nagpur and Thiruvananthpuram. It was also observed that Prostate  Cancer incidence is highest in metro cities like Delhi (2nd most  common cancer), Mumbai (3rd most common cancer), Kolkata (2nd  most common cancer), Chennai (4th most common cancer), Bangalore (3rd  most common cancer) and Pune (2nd most common cancer) as compared to  the smaller cities like Kollam, Bhopal, Nagpur and Wardha. Interestingly the  incidence of Prostate Cancer is relatively low in some states like  Gujrat and Madhya Pradesh, and lowest in the north east region of India comprising  of the contiguous Seven Sister States—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur,  Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura and the Himalayan state of Sikkim.

In case of  symptoms, one should not get panicked but is encouraged to meet and discuss the  symptoms with ones doctor.

1. American Cancer Society,  Prostate Cancer:

a. http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003134-pdf.pdf

2. Shalu Jain, Sunita Saxena, Anup Kumar ; Review: Epidemiology of prostate cancer in India; Meta Gene 2:  (2014)596–605,  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4287887/pdf/main.pdf

3. Advanced Renal Education Program, Incidence  and Prevalence:  http://advancedrenaleducation.com/content/incidence-and-prevalence.

4. Perin, N.N., 2001. Global  variation in cancer incidence and mortality. Curr. Sci. 81, 465–474.

To know more: Talk:prostate Cancer/archive 2

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