The American Cancer Society estimates 7,900 new cases of and 980 deaths from prostate cancer for Virginia in 1997. It accounts for 43 percent of all male cancers 334,500 new cases of prostate cancer are estimated for 1997. More than 58 percent of all prostate cancers are discovered while still localized.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men.
41,800 deaths related to prostate cancer are estimated for 1997. However, in the past 30 years, survival rate for all stages has risen from 50 percent to 87 percent. Approximately one out of every five men will develop prostate cancer during their lifetimes. African-American men have a prostate cancer incidence rate 66 percent higher than for Caucasian men, and more than twice the mortality rate. However, when prostate cancer is still localized at diagnosis, the 5-year survival rate is 90 percent.