The most common cancer in men is prostate cancer. Then controversy on diagnosis and management begins.  Actually one in every ten men will be diagnosed with Prostate Cancer sometime during their lifetime. Certain risk factors increase the odds that a man will develop prostate cancer, such as a family history of prostate cancer, men over the age of 40, men with an ever so slightly elevated PSA blood test, being African American, a yearly increase in the PSA of more than .75 ng/ml, PSA greater than 2.5 ng/ml (if not even a lower number) or a firmness to the prostate found with a rectal digital examination. Fortunately, most prostate cancer I find today is in a curable stage. This was not the case when I began my practice 30 years ago.  So this tells me to some degree that we have made advancements in detection and management of prostate cancer since my career began.  Each treatment recommendation must be tailored to the individual, and his general health and patient/family wishes must be thoroughly considered in the decision making process. At the age of 40 men should have a PSA blood and a rectal digital examination yearly, www.aua.org. Preventive medicine in this case does not mean that we have ways to prevent one from developing prostate cancer but means that the odds are increased to find this cancer early and offer cure. At an early stage of prostate cancer most men have no symptoms. Some men develop problems urinating and the diagnosis of prostate cancer can be confused with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Symptoms include a weak urinary stream, straining to void, getting up at night to void, a feeling of incomplete emptying the urinary bladder, pain with voiding or blood in the urine. If you have not had your prostate gland checked this year and are in the risk category, please call and schedule an appointment with someone.  Your risk for having prostate cancer can be calculated, http://deb.uthscsa.edu/URORiskCalc/Pages/uroriskcalc.jsp , if you are over the age of 55years.