Cancer study challenges death rates in the UK

It is commonly believed that men with prostate cancer die from another illness first.

But now experts have discovered that almost half (49 per cent) of men with the disease actually die from their cancer.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men after lung cancer.

It usually affects older men and can be a slow-growing disease.

Prostate cancer accounts for about 37,000 new cases in the UK each year and more than 10,000 men die from it annually.

In the latest study, experts at King’s College London examined records for 50,066 men with prostate cancer between 1997 and 2007.

Just under half of this group (20,181 men) died during the 10-year period. Of these, 49 per cent were recorded as being due to the cancer itself.

Some 12 per cent of deaths were due to other cancers, 17 per cent to heart disease, eight per cent from pneumonia and 13 per c ent from other causes.

The findings were presented at the National Cancer Intelligence Network conference in London.

One of the authors, Henrik Moller, professor and head of analysis and research at NCIN, said: “Our data show that a high proportion of men with prostate cancer die from the cancer.

“Our findings challenge the commonly-held view that most men with prostate cancer will die with the disease rather than from it.”

Simon Chowdhury, author on the study and consultant oncologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London, said: “This confirms that prostate cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality for a large number of men and the importance of ongoing and future research into this area.”

Malcolm Mason, professor at the Cancer Research UK’s prostate cancer expert, said: “This is an extremely important study, which highlights that prostate cancer is not a trivial disease for large numbers of men in the UK who suffer from it.

“It is important for specialists, and for healthcare planners, to realise that, particularly for men with advanced prostate cancer. Their disease poses a significant threat to their health and their life, and the old notion that ‘most men die with it, not of it’ is simply not true for men with advanced disease.”

Prof. Mason said the good news was that many more men are now diagnosed with prostate cancer at an earlier stage. He said it was possible that not all of the men in this study who died of prostate cancer would die of it today.

Ruth Holdaway, director of operations at the Prostate Cancer Charity, said: “Prostate cancer kills 10,000 men every year. Yet, a widely-held notion persists that men will simply die with the disease, rather than from it.

“This research is key in exploding that traditional view, and in putting the spotlight firmly on this disease as a significant men’s health issue.

“The good news for all men is that deaths from the disease are declining.

“Much remains to be done, however, in terms of improving treatments for men at greatest risk of dying from prostate cancer, particularly by investing in research, which has suffered chronic under-funding.”