The risks of prostate cancer
We do not know exactly what causes prostate cancer, but we do know that certain risk factors are linked to the disease. A risk factor is anything that increases a person’s chance of getting a disease. Different cancers have different risk factors. Some risk factors, such as smoking, can be controlled. Others, like a person’s age or family history, can’t be changed. But having a risk factor, or even several, doesn’t mean that you will get the disease.
While all men are at risk for prostate cancer, the factors listed below can increase a man's chances of developing the disease.
| Age | The chance of getting prostate cancer goes up as a man gets older. More than 70 percent of all prostate cancers are diagnosed in men over the age of 65. |
| Race | For unknown reasons, prostate cancer is more common among African-American men than among caucasian men. And African-American men are twice as likely to die of the disease. |
| Nationality | Prostate cancer is most common in North America and northwestern Europe. It is less common in Asia, Africa, Central America and South America. |
| Diet | Men who eat large quantities of red meat or have a lot of high-fat dairy products in their diet seem to have a greater chance of getting prostate cancer. These men also tend to eat fewer fruits and vegetables. Doctors are not sure which of these factors causes the risk to go up. |
| Exercise | Getting enough exercise and keeping a healthy weight may help reduce prostate cancer risk. |
| Family history | Men with close family members (father or brother) who have had prostate cancer are more likely to get it themselves, especially if their relatives were young when they got the disease. |