For many people, discovering that they have prostate cancer is the first time they have thought about cancer. Understanding the illness is an important way for regaining control over your life. Learning more will help you make informed decisions about the treatment options available to you. Knowledge will also help you discuss your illness with other people, which can help them come to terms with a difficult discovery.

Prostate cancer poses a risk for every man age 50 and over. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men. By age 50, up to one in four men have some cancerous cells in the prostate gland. By age 80, the ratio increases to one in two. As you age, your risk of prostate cancer increases. In the United States, the average age at diagnosis is 72.

Prostate cancer is also the second leading cause of cancer deaths in American men. Yet unlike other cancers, you're more likely to die with prostate cancer than you are of it. On average, an American man has about a 30 percent risk of having prostate cancer in his lifetime, but only about a 3 percent risk of dying of the disease.

That's why it's vital for men to have regular prostate screenings. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in men, striking over 180,000 American men each year. Early detection is the best weapon in the fight against prostate cancer. However, if left untreated, the disease can be deadly. Nearly 40,000 men die from prostate in this country each year.