Prostate Cancer Survival Rate

The prostate cancer survival rate has risen dramatically over the past 30 years, especially when the biopsy shows that the cancer cells remain confined to the prostate. For these men, the statistics show that 90% of sufferers are surviving for five years or more.

Unfortunately, once the cancer has metastasized, typically spreading to the nearby bones and lymph nodes, as well as the rectum and the bladder, this rate drops to just 30%. However the stage at which the disease is diagnosed is also a hugely influential factor in these more specific statistics for the prostate cancer survival rate.

It should also be pointed out that, because most cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed in men in their seventies, those men could well fall victim to other unrelated but still terminal conditions over the next five years.

There are two different staging systems for assessing the progression and treatment of prostate cancer. The Gleason score is based on the appearance of cells under a microscope with grades being given between 1 for cells which look most normal and 5 where cells look most abnormal. The two areas of cells with the highest grade are then added together giving a Gleason score between two and ten.

The TNM system examines the size of the Tumour, the number of lymph Nodes which are affected and the presence of any Metastases. T1 and T2 cancers remain confined to the prostate but T3 and T4 cancers have metastasized - or spread - elsewhere.

On average, just under half of the 5% of men whose cancer has moved beyond the prostatic capsule when it is diagnosed will die within two years, whilst around 33% will survive for five years.

These statistics for the prostate cancer survival rate serve only as a guide and are certainly not a definite indication of a patient's eventual outcome.

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Joanna Cake is a life blogger who writes about health, parenting, sexual relationships and intimacy.

For more information about the prostate cancer survival rate, go to: http://www.sipep.org/prostate-cancer-survival-rate

To find out more about prostate cancer signs and symptoms, visit: http://www.sipep.org/prostate-cancer-signs-and-symptoms

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