Cancer Support Community - Understanding Prostate Cancer

Understanding Prostate Cancer

Cancer is a group of many related diseases. All cancers begin in cells, the body's basic unit of life. Cells make up tissues, and tissues make up the organs of the body.
Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old and die, new cells take their place.

Sometimes this orderly process goes wrong. New cells form when the body does not need them, and old cells do not die when they should. These extra cells can form a mass of tissue called a growth or tumor.

Tumors can be benign or malignant.

Benign tumors are not cancer. Usually, doctors can remove them. Cells from benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body. In most cases, benign tumors do not come back after they are removed. Most important, benign tumors are rarely a threat to life.

Malignant tumors are cancer. They are generally more serious. Cancer cells can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Also, cancer cells can break away from a malignant tumor and enter the bloodstream or the lymphatic system. That is how cancer cells spread from the original (primary) tumor to form new tumors in other organs. The spread of cancer is called metastasis.

Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer among American men, second only to skin cancer. Every year, more than 186,000 men in the United States are diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Age is the main risk factor for prostate cancer, and chances of getting the disease increase with age. Most men in the United States with prostate cancer are over age 65, and it is rarely seen in men younger than age 45.

Click Diagnosing for more information on the methods used to diagnose Prostate Cancer.

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Understanding Prostate Cancer

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