While researchers have not been able to identify exact causes for prostate cancer, they have associated a number of risk factors for the disease. These are characteristics that will place a man into a group at higher risk for contracting prostate cancer. It is important to note that there have been cases of the disease in men who do not fit into any of these groups, which is why it is so important to be screened regularly for the disease.

Age

Prostate cancer is most common in men over fifty years of age. Risk of contracting the disease, in fact, increases as a man ages, starting at fifty years old. If he falls into any of the other high risk groups, he becomes more susceptible to the disease at around forty years old. Upon an analysis of a man's family history and risk factors, he and his physician should decide at what point to begin regular screenings.

Heredity

Researchers have found a link between heredity and prostate cancer. If a man's father was diagnosed with the disease, is more likely to contract prostate cancer as well. Additionally, a predetermination for the disease appears to be more apparent in African American men, as the instance of prostate cancer in this population is 16% higher than that of their Caucasian counterparts. Researchers have found in comparing cancer victims that prostate cancer is more likely to advance in African American men, and that the mortality rate is higher.

Diet and Weight

Although the exact nature of the relationship is unknown, maintaining a diet heavy in animal fats has been indicated as a high risk factor for prostate cancer. In addition, obese men have proven more likely to contract the disease. Therefore, it is possible to alter one's lifestyle and effectively lower one's risk of contracting prostate cancer. Some research has shown that men with active lifestyles, in which they exercise regularly, are also at lower risk for the disease.

Infection

Studies have shown in the past that cancer cells may sometime be more likely to arise in areas where the body is weakened. This theory seems to be true in that men who have had multiple tract infections or who have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease are at higher risk for prostate cancer. In addition to this, men who have had a vasectomy appear also to be more likely to be diagnosed later, although the reasons for this are not clear.

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