Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer and is a disease affecting only the male population and more exactly the organ responsible for the seminal fluid, the prostate gland. Some of the causes are still being studied but the unfortunate fact is that the risk factors blamed for the development of cancer can not be avoided. Doctors often recommend for men over forty to start doing the screening tests for an early detection of the prostate cancer since it does not present any early symptoms to make it noticeable. After this age, certain changes occur in the male organism and the level of the male specific hormone, testosterone, begins to decrease. This happens because of the merciless aging process. Yes, age could be seen as the main factor responsible for the prostate cancer.

While the reasons are still uncovered, race and genetic background are the other causes of the prostate cancer and their study is very important. Several research studies concluded that the American-African men have a higher risk to get prostate cancer in comparison to the American-Caucasian ones. The lowest risk to get prostate cancer is for the Asian and Hispanic men; as a matter of fact this disease is the rarest among Japanese men living in their home country, Japan. As of genetics, it is well known the fact that all types of cancer tend to be inherited by members of the same family, so the prostate cancer is not an exception. Even if the family has only a history of breast cancer that doest not eliminate the possibility for men to develop a prostate cancer. This disease will affect a great number of the male population and as you probably noticed, a disease doesn’t depend on the wealth, popularity or social status of that certain person. The life and fate makes us all equal and leaves us powerless.

The celebrities we often see on the big screens are also humans, despite their popular or social status. Famous men can also be affected by the prostate cancer and below I shall give some examples. Robert DeNiro, the famous actor and Academy award winner was diagnosed with early-stage cancer at the age of sixty, while his father died because of this disease as the age of seventy one. The Godfather of soul music, James Brown, was diagnosed in 2004 with prostate cancer but survived only to die in 2006 because of a heart failure. The former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, was diagnosed with prostate cancer and had surgery for implanting the radioactive seeds, while his father lost the battle with this disease at the age of seventy three. Nelson Mandela received the prostate cancer diagnose in 2001 but made a full recovery after seven weeks of radiation therapy treatment. Others were less unfortunate and lost the battle against this cruel disease.

Frank Zappa, the famous singer and writer died at the age of fifty two, on December 4, 1993, because of the prostate cancer. Earl Woods, Tiger Woods’ father died at the age of seventy four in 2006 because of the recurrent cancer. In 2000 the prime minister of Canada, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, died at the age of eighty because of this illness. The Ramones guitarist, Johnny Ramone, was also the victim of this disease and died at the age of fifty five in 2004. Some other famous men affected by this are the Japanese emperor Akihito, the actor Roger Moore, the leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, the singer and actor Harry Belafonte, the former president of France, Francois Mitterand, the Yankees manager, Joe Torre and the list could go on because cancer is a terrible disease and it seems that no one can avoid it. Doctors can only recommend some prevention measures to be taken early in time, even before the dangerous age of forty.