Cancer in Older Men

You can get cancer at any age, but it is more likely as you get older. The types of cancer people get and the risk of dying from cancer vary among ethnic groups and between men and women. Here are a few of the most common types of cancer in men and what you can do to help prevent them or detect the cancer early.

Cancer of the lung

Lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in the US. It is the leading cause of deaths from cancer for men and for women. Most men who die from lung cancer are or were cigarette smokers.

To help protect yourself:

• If you smoke, quit. If you quit smoking, you are less likely to get lung cancer. Talk to your provider if you need help quitting.
• Encourage anyone you live with to quit, too.
• Never ignore a cough that does not go away or a cough that brings up blood. Tell your healthcare provider about it.

Tests that may be done to check for lung cancer are a chest X-ray or CT-scan of the chest. Studies have not yet shown the benefits outweigh the risks of using scans to screen all people for lung cancer after a certain age. Lung cancer screening with CT scans is continuing to be studied.

Cancer of the prostate

Cancer of the prostate is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men in the US. Most men who get prostate cancer are over age 65. Because it usually grows slowly, older men may die from causes other than the cancer. So even though prostate cancer is more common than lung cancer, lung cancer causes death more often. Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in American men.

Protecting yourself from prostate cancer is difficult. The rectal exam is no longer viewed as the best way to screen for prostate cancer. Annual screening exams with a rectal exam tend to find advanced cancers and do not protect against death from prostate cancer. Most commonly, the PSA (prostate specific antigen) test is used along with a rectal exam (called a digital rectal exam) to look for prostate cancer, but true benefit from screening for prostate cancer has been hard to prove. The PSA test can give misleading results and can cause undue anxiety, expense, and unnecessary medical procedures.

The current recommendation is that men age 75 and older should not be screened for prostate cancer. Men younger than 75 should discuss the benefits and harms of the PSA test with their healthcare provider before having the test.

Researchers have not yet found dietary supplements or other things you might do to try to protect yourself against this very common cancer. Various possibilities are being studied, such as selenium, vitamin E, lycopene (a chemical found in tomatoes), and the drugs that help shrink an enlarged prostate gland.

Cancer of the colon or rectum

Cancer of the colon or rectum usually strikes men over age 50. Men who have a family history of this cancer or who have had ulcerative colitis or other bowel disease are at greater risk of getting cancer of the colon or rectum. Colon cancer is the third most common cause of deaths from cancer in men.

To help protect yourself:

• If you are 50 to 75 years old and have an average risk of colon cancer, you should be screened with 1 of these 3 methods:
  • Have your stool checked for blood with a fecal occult blood test once a year.
  • Have a sigmoidoscopy exam every 5 years with fecal occult blood testing between these 5-year exams.
  • Have a colonoscopy every 10 years.

  Barium enema may be done every 5 years instead of colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy, but there is no evidence that this test is as effective as the tests listed above.

  A virtual colonoscopy (computed tomographic colonoscopy) is a new technique that is being studied to see if it is as effective as the approved screening tests. At this time it cannot be recommended as a known effective screening test.

  Colon cancer screening is most important between the ages of 50 and 75. It is optional between the ages of 75 and 85. It is probably more harmful than helpful after age 85.

• Tell your healthcare provider if you have rectal bleeding or a change in your bowel movements, especially if you have bouts of constipation that alternate with bouts of diarrhea.

Studies have not shown that supplements or aspirin help protect against colon cancer.

Cancer of the larynx (voice box)

Cancer of the larynx is much more common in men than in women. It occurs mainly in men in their 50s and 60s, often in heavy smokers and heavy drinkers.

To help protect yourself:

• Don't ignore sudden hoarseness or other voice changes. Tell your healthcare provider about it.
• If you smoke or drink heavily, quit. Talk to your provider if you need help quitting.
• Have regular checkups with a dentist or dental hygienist. They will look around your mouth and under your tongue when you visit their office for dental care.

Skin cancer

Most skin cancers appear after age 50. They are more common in people with blond or red hair, blue eyes, and fair skin that freckles easily. Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, usually from the sun, appears to increase the risk for skin cancers.

Common skin cancers are different from melanoma. Melanoma is the skin cancer that starts in freckles. It is much less common than ordinary skin cancer but much more deadly. Ordinary skin cancers seldom spread. They may damage the skin where they occur, but they are almost never life threatening.

To help protect yourself against both types of skin cancer:

• Cover up or apply sunscreen when you are out in the sun. Try hard to avoid severe sunburn.
• Take advantage of any skin cancer screening programs in your area.
• Check your skin regularly for lumps or areas that change in size, shape, or color.
• Ask your healthcare provider to check areas of skin that are hard for you to see.