PROSTATE cancer has become the leading cause of cancer related deaths among men, amid growing concern that an increasing number of younger men after being affected.

According to the National Cancer Registry population-based results for 2022, nearly 8 000 new cancer cases were recorded with 11 percent of the cases being prostate cancer.

“Yes, it is true the Zimbabwe National Cancer Registry recorded 11 percent of all the cases that were recorded as prostate cancer.

This shows that prostate cancer is contributing significantly to the national cancer burden. Remember, prostate cancer is a cancer that develops in men, but you can see that it is contributing significantly to the national cancer burden,” said Information Research and Evaluation Officer – Cancer Association of Zimbabwe, Mr Lovemore Makurofira.

Of the 2 743 cancer related deaths, 274 of them were prostate related.

“80% of all these statistic, most of them are actually diagnosed very late and according to the Zimbabwe National Cancer Registry, 80% of the cases are diagnosed at stage 3 and 4 and that late detection means that the prospect of curing the cancer will be very low and the cost of treatment will be very high to the patient, the family, the communities and also to the nation,” he added.

Concern has since been raised over the age range with some of the prostate cancer cases being detected among men who are below the age of 40.

“Another new trend that has been noted, is that the younger males in Zimbabwe among the black population are developing prostate cancer.

We used to know that prostate cancer would likely be a problem among men 50 years and above, but that trend that we are seeing where males around 38 years are developing prostate cancer is a very worrying trend. So older and younger males need to take prostate cancer seriously,” explained Makurofira.

With the prevalence of prostate cancer, there are growing calls for regular screening to ensure early detection and treatment.

ZBC News