What You Should Know About the Prostate Cancer Foundation

The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world’s leading philanthropic organization funding and accelerating prostate cancer research. Over the last two decades, PCF has demonstrated a firm commitment to saving lives and finding a cure for prostate cancer.

Every 2.3 minutes a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer, and more than 16 million men and their families are fighting the disease globally. In the United States, prostate cancer affects 1 in 6 men, making it the most common non—skin cancer in America. This means that a non-smoking man is more likely to develop prostate cancer than he is to develop colon, bladder, melanoma, lymphoma, and kidney cancers combined. In 2014 alone, approximately 230,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and more than 29,000 will die from the disease.

Without a doubt, the prognosis for men diagnosed with prostate cancer has never been more encouraging, and many important discoveries in the fight against prostate cancer since 1993 have resulted from PCF funding or coordination. These include the development of new medications and gene therapy approaches, as well as the development of vaccines that stimulate a patient’s own immune system to kill prostate cancer cells.

The net effect of this work is that there are 40% fewer deaths from prostate cancer than there were 20 years ago. Thanks to these recent advances, men with prostate cancer are living longer, more productive lives, and when detected early through routine physical exams and minimally invasive blood tests, prostate cancer is effectively curable; nearly 100% of men diagnosed with prostate cancer in the local or regional stages will be disease free after 5 years.

This promising statistic alone should motivate men to schedule regular visits with their physicians, but often this is not the case. Fear and embarrassment are the two major obstacles preventing men from the early detection and preventive care that can literally mean the difference between life and death. For these reasons, in addition to funding leading-edge research and scientific discoveries, PCF advocates greater awareness of prostate cancer, and provides the tools for men to take an active role in their own health.

PCF understands that the ability to go to the bathroom and have an erection may be highly personal subjects, but they are part of prostate cancer, and with knowledge and the right care, the outcomes can be positive. By connecting patients, loved ones, care providers, and scientists to critical updates, new developments, best practices, and the latest news from the treatment pipeline, PCF provides hope for men diagnosed with prostate cancer. Eliminating prostate cancer in our lifetimes is a possibility within reach, and the day when the disease becomes a manageable condition is closer than ever. For more information, please go to pcf.org.