Has prostate cancer incidence actually increased?
According to the National Cancer Institute, the incidence of prostate cancer, which is the number of new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed per year per 100,000 men, rose an average 3.3% per year from 1973 to 1990 (which is the last year for which data are currently available). Between 1975 and 1979 the rate of increase was 2.2% per year. From 1986 to 1990 it was 8.6% per year. Finally, from 1989 to 1990 it was 16.0%. Based on these figures, the answer certainly appears to be a resounding, “Yes.” However, the availability of PSA testing in the late 1980s had a profound effect on our ability to detect prostate cancer early in the course of the disease. We simply do not know at this time whether this ability has resulted in us finding large numbers of prostate cancer patients who in fact were present long before we were able to diagnose early stage disease. Some physicians have also started to suggest that current predictions of expected numbers of new prostate cancer patient diagnoses f
