Cancers that affect men

Although prostate cancer and testicular cancer only occur in men, they are not the only cancers that affect men. Men do worse than women for all of the most common cancers, except the gender-specific cancers.

Prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in Western Australia. Each year more than 1,600 men in Western Australia face the news they have prostate cancer. Unfortunately we're still not sure what men can do to reduce their risk of prostate cancer.

Find out more about prostate cancer.

Bowel cancer

Bowel cancer is the second most common cancer in men. We know a lot about preventing bowel cancer and a lot about finding bowel cancer early, yet it still accounts for more than 12 percent of all cancer deaths in Western Australia. Maintaining a healthy weight, being physically active, eating well and drinking less alcohol are all things men can do to reduce their risk of bowel cancer.

Find out more about bowel cancer.

Skin cancer

Every year approximately 220,000 Australian men get skin cancer. That's around 25 men for every hour of every day. Skin cancer is more common in men and more men than women die from skin cancers. The good news is that skin cancer is almost totally preventable and when found early can be very successfully treated.

Find out more about skin cancer.

Lung cancer

Despite a significant decline in lung cancer deaths among men, it is still the leading cause of cancer deaths in Western Australian men. Lung cancer is mostly a preventable disease, with cigarette smoking by far the main cause.

Testicular cancer

Testicular cancer is a relatively uncommon cancer, accounting for less than one percent of all cancers in Australia. Unlike most other cancers however, the majority of testicular cancer occurs in men under 45 years. It is not known what causes testicular cancer, but having an undescended testicle increases a man's risk. The good news is that treatment is very effective if testicular cancer is detected early.