Every year, more than 300,000 men in the United States lose their lives to cancer. You can lower your cancer risk in several ways.
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What You Can Do
- Don’t smoke, and avoid secondhand smoke. More men in the United States die from lung cancer than any other type of cancer, and cigarette smoking causes most cases.
- If you’re 50 or older, get screened for colorectal cancer.Screening tests can help prevent colorectal cancer or find it early, when treatment works best.
- Protect your skin from the sun. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. Most cases of melanoma, the deadliest kind of skin cancer, are caused by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun and tanning devices, but fewer than 15% of men use sunscreen regularly when outside for more than an hour. When you’re outside, follow our easy sun safety tips for men.
- Stay active and keep a healthy weight. Adopting a lifestyle that includes healthy eating and regular physical activity can help lower your risk for several kinds of cancer.
Fast Facts About Cancer and Men
- The most common kinds of cancer among men in the U.S. are skin cancer,prostate cancer,lung cancer, and colorectal cancer.
- Most prostate cancers grow slowly, and don’t cause any health problems in men who have them. Treatment can cause serious side effects. Talk to your doctor before you decide to get tested or treated for prostate cancer.
- A human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is recommended routinely for boys at 11 or 12 years of age to prevent anal cancer and genital warts. The vaccine also is recommended for all teenage boys and men through age 21, any man who has sex with men through age 26, and men with compromised immune systems (including HIV) through age 26, if they did not receive all three doses of the vaccine when they were younger.
Featured/Furthur Resources
- This health tip sheet [PDF-163KB] explains prostate cancer screening and provides a list of questions to ask your doctor.
- Test your knowledge about lung cancer with this simple quiz!
- “There I was at age 36 with two small children and a potentially deadly cancer,” says skin cancer surgeon and survivor Dr. Travis Kidner.
- Our Colorectal Cancer Screening Saves Lives booklet [PDF-2.6MB] provides detailed screening information.
- This fact sheet [PDF-497KB] explains the health problems HPV can cause in men, especially cancer.
- “Hopefully, my heartbreak is your wake-up call,” says Terrence Howard in this video about losing his mother to colon cancer.
Five Most Dangerous Cancers in Males
1. Lung & bronchus – 87,260 male deaths in 2013
Lung and bronchial cancer causes more deaths in the United States than any other type of cancer in both men and women. Although survival rates have increased over the years, thanks to improved treatments, the outlook is still bleak. The one-year survival rate for lung cancer is around 50 percent, yet the five-year survival rate is only 16 percent.The main cause of these two cancers is the use of tobacco products, making it very preventable.
2. Prostate – 29,720 male deaths in 2013
Prostate is the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in men, and an estimated 1 in 6 men in the United States will be diagnosed during their lifetime. Survival rates are directly associated with early detection, so men are advised to get screened every year. Males who are diagnosed early have a 98 percent survival rate.3. Colon & rectum – 26,300 male deaths in 2013
The third most common cancer in men and women, colon and rectal cancer cases begin as clumps of benign cells, called polyps. Over time, these cells become cancerous. Screening is recommended for men over the age of 50, earlier if the patient is at an increased risk of development, to detect the polyps before they become cancerous.4. Pancreas – 19,480 male deaths in 2013
Because pancreatic cancer progresses rapidly, and no method of early detection has been discovered, it is one of the most dangerous types of cancer. The one-year survival rate is 25 percent, and the five-year survival rate sits at only 6 percent.While the cause of pancreatic cancer is still not well understood, obesity and tobacco use are known to increase the risk.
5. Liver & intrahepatic bile duct – 14,890 male deaths in 2013
Liver cancer occurs more often in men than women and most commonly affects those with liver damage caused by alcohol abuse, birth defects or chronic infection associated with diseases, such as hepatitis C or cirrhosis. Liver cancer is dangerous because it does not cause symptoms until it is in later stages, and early detection is difficult.Source: American Cancer Society 2013
Informational and page syndicated with permission: CDC.
Photo: CDC, ACS, hartingale/Flickr