The prostate is a chestnut-sized gland, located just below the bladder, which contributes most of the fluid that combines with a man’s sperm to make semen. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer other than skin cancer in American men and is the second leading cause of cancer death in men. The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 189,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2002. Incidence rates for the disease are higher for African-American men than for white men.

The good news is that, for men with localized prostate cancer (cancer that has not spread beyond the prostate), the 5-year survival rate approaches 100 percent, according to American Cancer Society figures. Therefore, all men should know how to detect prostate cancer in its earliest stages, when cure rates are the highest.