Lifetime risk of being diagnosed with, or dying from, prostate cancer by major ethnic group in England 2008–2010

BACKGROUND: In the UK, a man’s lifetime risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer is 1 in 8. We calculated both the lifetime risk of being diagnosed with and dying from prostate cancer by major ethnic group. METHODS: Public Health England provided prostate cancer incidence and mortality data for England (2008–2010) by major ethnic group. Ethnicity and mortality data were incomplete, requiring various assumptions and adjustments before lifetime risk was calculated using DevCan (percent, range). RESULTS: The lifetime risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer is approximately 1 in 8 (13.3 %, 13.2–15.0 %) for White men, 1 in 4 (29.3 %, 23.5–37.2 %) for Black men, and 1 in 13 (7.9 %, 6.3–10.5 %) for Asian men, whereas that of dying from prostate cancer is approximately 1 in 24 (4.2 %, 4.2–4.7 %) for White men, 1 in 12 (8.7 %, 7.6–10.6 %) for Black men, and 1 in 44 (2.3 %, 1.9–3.0 %) for Asian men. CONCLUSIONS: In England, Black men are at twice the risk of being diagnosed with, and dying from, prostate cancer compared to White men. This is an important message to communicate to Black men. White, Black, and Asian men with a prostate cancer diagnosis are all as likely to die from the disease, independent of their ethnicity. Nonetheless, proportionally more Black men are dying from prostate cancer in England. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12916-015-0405-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.