Generally speaking, the most common type of cancer that affects men is skin cancer. However, prostate cancer, ranked as number two, tends to be the form of cancer most men are concerned about. A study report from the Centers for Disease Control National Center for Health Statistics and the National Cancer Institute estimated that, in 2010, a total of 217,730 patients will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and a total of 32,050 men will die as a result.

According to the Mayo Clinic website, it is unclear what actually causes prostate cancer. What is known, though, is that prostate cancer begins when some of the cells in the prostate change and become what is described as ???abnormal.??? A result of this change is that the abnormal cells begin to grow and divide (replicate) at a much faster rate than normal cells. Over time, the ???normal??? cells die as the abnormal cells continue to live and coalesce into a tumor that can continue to grow and, possibly, invade nearby tissues.

A class of drugs referred to as gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists are frequently used to treat men that are diagnosed as having prostate cancer. These drugs act by suppressing the production of the male sex hormone known as testosterone, which is involved in the growth of prostate cancer.

Due to recently gathered data, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a statement in May of 2010 asking the manufacturers of GnRH drugs to include a new warning of their products. This new warning would alert the health care providers and patients that there is a potential risk of heart disease and diabetes in men taking these kinds of drugs.

Some examples of these brand name drugs are Eligard, Lupron, Synarel, Trelstar, Vantas, Viadur, and Zoladex. If there is a concern regarding these drugs, contact your health care providers or pharmacists for more information.