Older men are more susceptible than younger males to contract prostate cancer, according to a specialist nurse from the Prostate Cancer Charity.

Louisa Fleure outlined a number of risk factors that make people more prone to prostate cancer and listed age among these.

Other factors include diet, race and family history, she noted.

"We know that as men get older they become much more likely to get prostate cancer," Ms Fleure said.

She added that most men are diagnosed when they are in their 60s and 70s.

"But certainly once men reach their 80s there's quite a high chance of them having prostate cancer," Ms Fleure added.

According to statistics from Cancer Research, between 65 and 98 per cent of men who are diagnosed when prostate cancer is in the first two stages live for at least five years after the condition is discovered.

In its initial stages, the cancer is still contained in the prostate gland.

Ms Fleure said that while it is rare for men to develop prostate cancer before the age of 50, younger males could also be susceptible to the disease.