Men’s Health
Exploring the risk factors
COURIER LIFE, SEPT. 11-17, 2020 17
In the United States, one in
six men can expect to be
diagnosed with prostate
cancer, while there is a one in
seven chance that a Canadian
man will be diagnosed with
prostate cancer at some point
during his lifetime.
Those elevated incidence
rates could be a byproduct of
an aging population, as age is a
signifi cant risk factor for prostate
cancer. According to the
Prostate Cancer Foundation,
one in 10,000 men under age 40
will be diagnosed with prostate
cancer. That fi gure skyrockets
to one in 38 for men between the
ages of 40 to 59, and one in 15 for
men in their 60s.
Though age is perhaps the
most signifi cant risk factor,
it’s not the only thing that increases
a man’s risk for prostate
cancer. In fact, there are
a host of factors in addition to
age that increase a man’s risk
for prostate cancer, which the
Canadian Cancer Society says
will claim the lives of more
than 4,000 Canadian men this
year.
One such risk factor is
where a man lives. Men who
live in rural China, for instance,
have a relatively low
risk of developing prostate
cancer during their lifetime.
That risk is only two percent
if a man stays in rural China
his entire life. But that risk increases
signifi cantly if a Chinese
man moves to the West,
where a man in the United
States has a 17 percent chance
of developing prostate cancer.
And not only does which
country a man lives in play a
role, but also the location of
his home within that country’s
borders can elevate the
risk. Men who live in cities
north of 40 degrees latitude
(north of Philadelphia, Pa.;
Columbus, Ohio; and Provo,
Utah) have the highest risk of
dying from prostate cancer,
and researchers feel this is
because men who live in such
cities get less sunlight during
the winter months and therefore
less vitamin D.
Race is another risk factor
for prostate cancer. Asian men
have the lowest risk of developing
prostate cancer, while African
American men are 60 percent
more likely to develop the
disease than Caucasian men.
The PCF notes that African
American men are also 2.5
times more likely to die from
the disease, which highlights
the importance that African-
American men must place on
screenings.
Family history also plays
a role in a man’s risk for developing
prostate cancer. Men
whose fathers or brothers have
had prostate cancer are twice
as likely to develop the disease.
Their risk increases even more
if their fathers or brothers were
diagnosed with the cancer before
reaching the age of 55 or if
they had three or more family
members who were diagnosed
with prostate cancer.
Research into prostate cancer
is ongoing and continues
to unearth new information
regarding this potentially
deadly disease. The PCF notes,
for instance, that the risk factors
for aggressive version of
this type of cancer can differ
from the risk factors for slowgrowing
cancers. As a result,
risk factors that were once not
linked to prostate cancer are
now being linked to aggressive
forms of the disease. Smoking,
for example, might be a risk
factor for aggressive prostate
cancer, as is a diet void of vegetables.
Neither factor, however,
is thought to increase a man’s
risk of slow-growing prostate
cancer. Additional risk factors
for aggressive prostate cancer
include height (tall men might
have an elevated risk) and living
a sedentary lifestyle.
Many men are aware of the
importance of prostate cancer
screenings. However, few
might know that certain factors
signifi cantly increase
their risk for being diagnosed
with this potentially deadly
disease.
More information about prostate
cancer is available at www.
pcf.org.
Getty Images
for prostate cancer
/www.pcf.org
/www.pcf.org
/pcf.org