Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK and
accounts for around a quarter of all new male cancer diagnoses.
In 2009, there were 34,593 new cases of prostate cancer
diagnosed in England, an age-standardised rate of 107.6.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-
related deaths in men in the UK, accounting for around 14 per
cent of all male cancer deaths. In 2009 there were 8,842 deaths
in England from prostate cancer. Survival rates for prostate
cancer have been improving for more than 30 years but the trends
in survival can be difficult to interpret. This is because the
detection of a greater proportion of latent, earlier, slow
growing tumours because of PSA testing, and the advent of new
surgical procedures such as transurethral resection of the
prostate (TURP), have raised survival rates. The relative five
year survival rate for men diagnosed in England in 2001-2006 was
77 per cent compared with only 31 per cent for men diagnosed in
1971-75. For more detailed statistics,