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Can You Prevent Prostate Cancer?

We don’t yet know the cause of prostate cancer, so most of the time, it can’t be prevented.

However, you may be able to lower your risk of getting prostate cancer somewhat by watching what you eat. Limit red meats, especially processed meats (bacon, sausage, pepperoni) and meats high in fat. Instead, eat more fruits, vegetables and grains. Your doctor may have already recommended a diet like this to lower cholesterol or lower blood pressure.

Lycopenes help prevent damage to DNA and may lower prostate cancer risk. Lycopenes are found in tomatoes and tomato products, pink grapefruit and watermelon.

Are You at Higher Risk for Getting Prostate Cancer?

Not all men have the same risk of getting prostate cancer. You should know if you are at higher risk. You can make sure you are tested for prostate cancer often. When prostate cancer is detected early, it is 80-90 percent curable.

The major risk factors are age, race and family history.

Age: Once you’re 50, your risk starts going up and keeps going up.
Race: If you’re African-American, you have a higher risk than a Caucasian or Hispanic-American man.
Family history: If you have a father, son or brother with prostate cancer, your risk of getting prostate cancer is double. The more relatives you have with prostate cancer, the higher your risk.

Early Detection Is Possible

While we don’t know for sure how to prevent cancer, we do know how to detect it early.

Prostate cancer can often be found early in two ways:

Digital rectal exam (DRE) -- your doctor does this during a regular checkup, feeling the prostate to see if it has any lumps or other changes
PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood test
You need to have both tests. The blood test alone is not enough.

Most men don’t like the idea of the DRE. Your doctor puts on a glove and puts his finger in your rectum to feel the prostate. But if you want to catch prostate cancer early, you need to have a DRE regularly. Remember, nobody ever died of embarrassment.

When you should start having a PSA test and a DRE depends on your risk factors. These are recommendations from the American Cancer Society:

Men at normal risk: Start tests at age 50

Men at high risk: Start tests at age 45

You are at high risk if:
You are African-American
(or)
You have a first-degree relative (father, brother, son) who was diagnosed with prostate cancer when he was younger than 65

Men at highest risk: Start tests at age 40

You are at highest risk if:
You have two or more first-degree relatives who were diagnosed with prostate cancer when they were younger than 65

This page last updated 2/12/08 04:08 PM

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