In December 2000, CDC sought expert advice from approximately 100 medical and public health practitioners, researchers, and representatives from community organizations and volunteer associations to help develop the role of public health in prostate cancer prevention and control. Experts discussed what the public health role should be related to understanding risk factors and disease burden, primary and secondary prevention, treatment, and quality of life. Discussion focused on four areas of public health: surveillance and monitoring, research, services and programs, and communication. One of the public health concerns is with prostate cancer, the most common form of cancer, other than skin cancer, among men in the United States and is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer-related death among men. The American Cancer Society estimates that 189,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed and that approximately 30,200 men will die from the disease in 2002.
             Prostate Cancer is a disease in which cancer (malignant) cells are found in the prostate. The prostate is on the male sex glands, and is located just below the bladder and in front of the rectum. The size of the prostate is about the size of a walnut. It surrounds the part of the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body. The prostate makes fluid that becomes part of the semen, which contains sperm.
             Prostate cancer is most commonly found in older men. As a man gets older, his prostate may get bigger and block the urethra of bladder, which can cause him to have difficulty urinating or even interfere with sexual functions. This condition is called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and although it is not cancer, surgery may be needed to correct it. The symptoms of BPH, or other problems in the prostate may be similar to symptoms of prostate cancer. Some common symptoms of prostate cancer are: weak or interrupted flow of urine...