Survivors say disease is not life altering.

• Position: Prostate Cancer

Although researchers have made great strides in treating prostate cancer--the most common nonskin cancer among American men--little attention has been given to how a patient is affected by a diagnosis of the disease and what his subsequent life is like. A study by University of Connecticut, Storrs, researchers shows that prostate cancer survivors fare relatively well and rarely deem the diagnosis to be a traumatic or life-altering event.

Each year, approximately 190,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer. There are more than 1,300,000 prostate cancer survivors in the country. "Over two-thirds of men we surveyed reported that they now hardly ever or never think about the fact that they have had prostate cancer," asserts Thomas Blank, professor of family studies. "Thus, while a small percentage of men see themselves as dramatically affected in positive or negative directions, the overall picture is one of what is most easily described as successful adaptation."

Blank and graduate student Keith Bellizzi studied nearly 500 men diagnosed from one to eight years before their participation in the research project. Ranging in age from 48 to 88, the men answered questions about personality and lifestyle factors, coping strategies and choices, and various aspects of the disease. "The overall tone of responses was highly positive," Blank notes. "Scores overall were equal to or higher on positive measures, such as optimism, and lower on negative ones, such as depression, than comparable national samples of older persons."

Age at diagnosis is a critical factor in determining how a man will be affected by prostate cancer, the researchers found. Specifically, those under 60 were more affected by their diagnosis than were older men. They were more hopeful about their future; made more...