Prostate cancer describes the development of cancer in the prostate. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system. The disease normally develops slowly, with symptoms emerging sometime after the cancer has begun to develop.
According to BBC Science, there are probably five different types of prostate cancer. This is based on research conducted by Cancer Research U.K. together with Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge. Furthermore, through an analysis of 250 samples taken from surgery, the research group found that some types that are more likely to recur.
The implications are that genetic testing can help researchers better identify the specific type of cancer and recommend the most appropriate treatment.
Factors associated with a greater risk of prostate cancer are older age, family history, and ethnicity. With this latter point, according to The Guardian, black men in the U.K. have around twice the lifetime risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer compared with white men. This is according to an article published in BMC Medicine (“Lifetime risk of being diagnosed with, or dying from, prostate cancer by major ethnic group in England 2008–2010.”)