Any cancer diagnosis is frightening. Cancer is a threat to health and life. You should not underestimate the seriousness of this diagnosis. Prostate cancer is a killer, as serious a threat to men as breast cancer is to women. In fact, it's second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death for American men.

What makes prostate cancer different is that this disease can be slow growing, giving you time to learn about it, study your options, and choose what's best for you.

As you begin learning about prostate cancer, remember that no one resource can answer all the questions you may have or help you with the many feelings that arise when you learn you have a serious disease.

Fortunately, there are a lot of sources of help. Talk to your family and friends. By asking for their support, you'll be helping yourself and helping them as well.

Talk with your doctor. Ask questions. Make sure you understand his or her recommendations.

You may also want to search for information on your own. This online information center is intended to provide you with resources to begin your efforts. It also provides a glossary of medical terms for your reference.

Organizations

• The National Cancer Institute Cancer Information Service: 1-800-4-CANCER.
• Cancer Care, Inc.: 1-800-813-HOPE.
• Your local chapter of The American Cancer Society: 1-800-ACS-2345.

These same organizations can help you find support groups and other information, counseling or referrals.

In addition, there are organizations specifically devoted to helping people with prostate cancer and other urologic diseases:

• US TOO International, Inc.: 1-800-808-7866.
•  Prostate Health Council,American Foundation for Urological Disease: 1-800-242-2383.

Books

There are many books that have been published on prostate cancer. Here are three that should be helpful:

• Simeon Margolis, MD, PhD and H. Ballentine Carter, MD. Prostate Disorders. The Johns Hopkins White Papers 1998. The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, 1998.
• Sheldon Marks, MD. Prostate & Cancer: A Family Guide to Diagnosis, Treatment & Survival. Fisher Books, Tucson, 1997.
• Joseph Oesterling, MD and Mark Moyad, MPH. The ABCs of Prostate Cancer: The Book That Could Save Your Life. Madison Books, Lanham, Maryland,1997.
  

On the Web The Internet can be one of the richest sources of information on healthcare. It's a resource that needs to be used carefully, however, since it can sometimes be difficult to separate solid information from hearsay, rumor or self-serving promotion. Here are some sites of interest:

• CenterWatch Clinical Trials Listing Service: www.centerwatch.com/
• Cancer Care's site: www.cancercareinc.org
• HealthWEB Oncology (University of Indiana): www.medlib.iupui.edu/hw/onco/
• OncoLink@ (University of Pennsylvania): cancer.med.upenn.edu/disease/prostate
•  US TOO International's site: www.ustoo.com
• The American Cancer Society site: www.cancer.org/cidSpecificCancers/prostate/
• The National Cancer Institute: cancernet.nci.nih.gov/

In addition, our prostate cancer site can be accessed at: www.prostateinfo.com