The 5-year relative survival rate for people with localized and regionalized prostate cancer (meaning cancer has not spread beyond your pelvis to other tissues in your body) is greater than 99%.
Your prostate is a gland about the size of a walnut that surrounds your urethra and sits below your bladder. Cancer can form in your prostate.
Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer, both in the United States and worldwide, and it’s also one of the
If you have prostate cancer, you might be wondering about survival rates.
Medical professionals measure survival rates in different ways. Each method uses statistics and large data sets. However, they’re only meant to be guides. Your own personal circumstances will be unique.
This article reviews the different ways to look at prostate cancer survival rates.
| Stage of cancer | 5-year relative survival rate |
|---|---|
| Localized (has not spread outside the prostate) | over 99% |
| Regional (has spread to areas directly around your prostate or nearby lymph nodes) | over 99% |
| Distant (has spread beyond your pelvis to other tissues in your body) | 32% |
One way to generalize the outlook for someone with prostate cancer is with 5-year relative survival rates. These rates measure what percentage of people are alive 5 years after receiving a diagnosis of prostate cancer compared with the general population.
These rates are typically grouped by how advanced the cancer is when someone receives the diagnosis.
Localized prostate cancer
Localized prostate cancer is when the cancer hasn’t spread outside of your prostate.
The 5-year relative survival rate for people in this group is
Regional prostate cancer
Regional prostate cancer is when the cancer has spread to the area directly around your prostate or the nearby lymph nodes (organs that filter substances in your body) but not beyond the pelvis.
The 5-year relative survival rate for people in this group is
Distant prostate cancer
Distant prostate cancer (also called metastatic prostate cancer) is usually when the cancer has spread beyond your pelvis to other tissues in your body, such as your organs or bones.
The 5-year relative survival rate for people in this group is
| Age group | Annual risk of death for low grade prostate cancer | Annual risk of death for high grade prostate cancer |
|---|---|---|
| 50 to 60 | 0.4% | 3.7% |
| 60 to 75 | 0.6% | 3.0% |
| Older than 75 | 1.5% | 4.1% |
Another way to group prostate cancer survival rates is by age. Let’s look at a few different age groups. Remember that these numbers represent averages. A doctor can provide more information specific to your own diagnosis.
Younger than 50
Prostate cancer is often a slow-growing cancer, sometimes requiring only monitoring for many years without any other treatment. Prostate cancer is rarely fatal in people younger than 50 years old.
However, those younger than 50 years old with prostate cancer have a 5-year relative survival rate of
Ages 50 to 60
For people in this age group with low grade prostate cancer, their annual risk of death is 0.4%. For those with high grade prostate cancer, their annual risk is 3.7%.
Ages 60 to 75
Older than 75
If prostate cancer is localized to your prostate or has only spread to nearby lymph nodes within your pelvis, there’s a chance it can be cured. But in some cases, your cancer can return. Prostate cancer is considered incurable if it has spread beyond your pelvis.
The treatment with the
But completely curing your prostate cancer may not be your treatment goal.
All medical treatments come with some risk of complications. Related to prostate cancer, there are risks associated with prostate surgeries, radiation, and even biopsies.
Because prostate cancer can be slow to grow and spread, the risks of treatment are sometimes greater than the risks of simply monitoring your cancer. Deciding how to approach your prostate cancer treatment is something to discuss with a doctor.
When looking at the long-term outlook for someone with prostate cancer, it’s important to keep in mind that prostate cancer is frequently diagnosed in older adults.
For that reason, doctors look at rates of all-cause mortality as well as cancer-specific mortality for someone after they receive a diagnosis of prostate cancer.
All-cause mortality rate is a measure of the total number of deaths from any cause in a specific group of people over a specific period of time.
One important factor to consider is ethnicity. Specifically, African Americans are
Other factors like your prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels or the cancer’s stage at the time you receive the diagnosis could also affect your long-term outlook.
It’s never easy to get a cancer diagnosis. The outlook for people with prostate cancer is generally very good, but the next steps may be difficult both physically and emotionally.
You’ll want to work with a doctor as soon as possible to determine your goals and come up with a treatment plan. It may be helpful to come up with a list of questions to ask your doctor. These may include:
- when your treatment should start
- what the treatment will entail
- how to prepare for treatment
- what are the potential side effects of treatment
Prostate cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed types of cancer worldwide.
Oftentimes, it’s discovered early enough that the only treatment that’s needed is active surveillance, where you and your doctors closely monitor your symptoms and the cancer.
When prostate cancer is caught early, the outlook for someone with it is generally very good.