Prostate cancer statistics - Key Facts

• Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK. A quarter of all new cases of cancer diagnosed in men are prostate cancers.
• In 2006, more than 35,000 men in the UK were diagnosed with prostate cancer.
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• Over the last 30 years prostate cancer rates in Great Britain have almost tripled, although much of the increase is due to increased detection through widespread use of the PSA test.
• Almost 60% of prostate cancer cases are diagnosed in men aged over 70 years.
• Around 300,000 new cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed in Europe each year. The lowest rates are in Southern and Eastern Europe and the highest rates are in Scandinavia and Northern Europe.
• Worldwide, more than 670,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year. The highest rates are in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Western and Northern Europe whilst the lowest rates are in East and South Central Asia.

Read more in-depth prostate cancer incidence statistics.

• Around 7 in 10 newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients now survive the disease beyond five years. Much of the improvement in survival can be attributed to the increased use of PSA testing in the UK which has led to the diagnosis of many prostate cancers which would have gone undetected.

Read more in-depth prostate cancer survival statistics.

• Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in UK men, after lung cancer.
• Each year around 10,200 men in the UK die from prostate cancer.
• Prostate cancer death rates have not changed significantly in the last ten years, unlike incidence.

Read more in-depth prostate cancer mortality statistics.

• The strongest risk factor for prostate cancer is age, with very low risk in men under the age of 50, but risk increasing with age thereafter.
• Men with one or more first-degree relatives (father, brother, or son) diagnosed with prostate cancer have an increased risk of prostate cancer, especially if the relative was diagnosed before the age of 60.
• West African men and black men from the Caribbean have a higher risk of prostate cancer than white men.
• Men born in Asia have a lower risk of prostate cancer than men born in the UK.

Read more in-depth prostate cancer risk factors.

*age-standardised to the European population **period estimates