Prostate Cancer (Early/Late) Prognosis and Life Expectancy

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The Prognosis of Prostate Cancer depends upon the different stages of cancer

As per the CDC, Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer in the U.S. Each year, nearly 200,000 men in the United States are diagnosed with prostate cancer, and about 27,000 die from the disease.

The main factors that affect the outcome of prostate cancer include

Diagnosed Cancer Stage – Patient’s prostate prognosis depends upon stage at which the cancer is diagnosed
Patients’ Gleason grade or Score – The Gleason grading system is used to help evaluate the prognosis of men with prostate cancer. Cancers with a higher Gleason score are more aggressive and have a worse prognosis.
PSA level – The prognosis for prostate cancer depends upon the level of PSA present in the blood. For more details on the PSA levels you can check our earlier blog on the topic PSA Tests and its results.
Medical history of the patient – If the patient is suffering from other problems with prostate cancer then chances of survival are less.
Location and Volume of the tumor – The prostate prognosis also depends upon the location and volume of tumor.

The doctor will investigate reported outcomes of people with similar conditions as yourself, and come out with a prediction of how the cancer will affect you.

Prostate Cancer Prognosis and Stage

In general even though Prostate Cancer is common (overall chance that 1 in 6 men will have this condition), it is a slow growing tumour and only 3% of those diagnosed die of this cancer (check this excellent resource from the CDC).

Also since new and more effective cancer treatments are continuously being developed, the survival rate for prostate cancer has improved dramatically. Over the past 25 years, the 5-year survival rate for all stages has increased from 69% to nearly 100%.

The Prognosis of Prostate Cancer depends upon the different stages of the cancer. The stage or extent of a cancer is one of the most important factors in choosing treatment options and predicting a patient’s outlook.

Prognosis for Early Stage – An Early Stage Prostate Cancer means the disease is just beginning. When prostate cancer is detected in its early stages, survival rates are excellent. Prostate cancer detected in early stages is highly treatable. The majority of men diagnosed in the early stages do not die from the disease.

Prognosis in Late Stage – Late Stage Prostate Cancer refers to prostate cancer that has spread widely. It means the cancer has already grown through the covering of the prostate gland or has spread into another part of the body. In Locally Advanced Stages the cancer has spread to the nearby regions, it is more difficult to cure but patients can still expect years in their prognosis. In Metastasized Cancer the prostate cancer has spread to distant organs, average survival rate is one to three years but some patients may live longer or die of other causes.

Listed below are some clinical trials investigating new treatments for Prostate Cancer.