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Men’s Health and Cancer—The Case of Prostate Cancer

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The Palgrave Handbook of Male Psychology and Mental Health

Abstract

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a disease in which understandings of what it means to be a man and structural inequalities affecting men from different groups intersect and interact in important and complex ways at every stage of the disease “journey” from first noticing a problem, to seeking help and obtaining a diagnosis through treatment to survivorship. PCa needs to be understood with reference to prevailing norms and enactments of masculinity and to the ethnicity and social class of the man with cancer. This chapter will provide basic information about the nature, symptoms and treatment of prostate cancer. It will discuss these in terms of their psychological and psychosocial impact on men and their families, with a particular focus on how concepts of masculinity as well as ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity shape these effects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of East London, London, UK

    Kenneth Gannon

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  1. Kenneth Gannon
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Correspondence to Kenneth Gannon .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. UCL, London, UK

    John A. Barry

  2. Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Wymondham, UK

    Roger Kingerlee

  3. Change, Grow, Live, Dagenham/Southend, Essex, UK

    Martin Seager

  4. Community Interest Company, Men’s Minds Matter, London, UK

    Luke Sullivan

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Gannon, K. (2019). Men’s Health and Cancer—The Case of Prostate Cancer. In: Barry, J.A., Kingerlee, R., Seager, M., Sullivan, L. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Male Psychology and Mental Health. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04384-1_8

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