Cancer of the prostate

Abstract Prostate cancer is the fourth site for cancer incidence worldwide in men, and the third in developed countries after lung and colon-rectum (Parkin et al. 1999). Considerable changes in incidence rates from prostate carcinoma have been observed in the USA, the European Union, and in most other developed countries, suggesting that an epidemic of this neoplasm occurred in the late 1980s or early 1990s, followed by a fall in rates. A critical appraisal of the descriptive epidemiology of prostate cancer indicates, however, that most trends were likely attributable to changes in diagnostic procedures (mainly, the introduction of prostate-specific antigen-PSA-blood test), rather than substantial changes in risk-factor exposure (Levi et al. 2000).