An “inevitable” global surge in prostate cancer is coming, with a worldwide doubling of cases to 2.9 million and an 85% increase in deaths to nearly 700,000 by the year 2040, TheLancet Commission on Prostate Cancer warned this week.
At a meeting of urologists in Paris, the commission said the acceleration is already underway in high-income countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom but will gain momentum in low- and medium-income countries.
Nick James, MD, lead author of TheLancet report and professor of prostate and bladder cancer research at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said the surge, in part, is a medical success story.
“Prostate cancer paradoxically is a problem baked into the biology. Men get prostate cancer as they age,” James said.
An “inevitable” global surge in prostate cancer is coming, with a worldwide doubling of cases to 2.9 million and an 85% increase in deaths to nearly 700,000 by the year 2040, TheLancet Commission on Prostate Cancer warned this week.
At a meeting of urologists in Paris, the commission said the acceleration is already underway in high-income countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom but will gain momentum in low- and medium-income countries.
Nick James, MD, lead author of TheLancet report and professor of prostate and bladder cancer research at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said the surge, in part, is a medical success story.
“Prostate cancer paradoxically is a problem baked into the biology. Men get prostate cancer as they age,” James said.
James said that undertreatment of advanced disease is widespread; only about 30-40% of men in the United States receive combination hormone therapy for metastatic disease, for example. “Simply doing what we know works would improve outcomes,” he said.
James said men of African ancestry are twice as likely to develop prostate cancer, but whether treatment should follow a different approach in these men is unclear. The new report stressed the need to include more men of African ancestry in research.
Brandon Mahal, MD, vice chair of research in radiation oncology the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and a co-author of the report, said new approaches are needed to enable earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer in men in low- to middle-income countries, where most patients develop metastatic disease and are less likely to survive for long periods.
James recommended pop-up clinics and mobile testing to encourage men who are at high risk for prostate cancer but feel well to detect lethal cancers early.
James said that undertreatment of advanced disease is widespread; only about 30-40% of men in the United States receive combination hormone therapy for metastatic disease, for example. “Simply doing what we know works would improve outcomes,” he said.
James said men of African ancestry are twice as likely to develop prostate cancer, but whether treatment should follow a different approach in these men is unclear. The new report stressed the need to include more men of African ancestry in research.
Brandon Mahal, MD, vice chair of research in radiation oncology the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and a co-author of the report, said new approaches are needed to enable earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer in men in low- to middle-income countries, where most patients develop metastatic disease and are less likely to survive for long periods.
James recommended pop-up clinics and mobile testing to encourage men who are at high risk for prostate cancer but feel well to detect lethal cancers early.
Source: webmd.com
