Secretary of State Colin Powell underwent surgery for prostate cancer Monday.

State department spokesman Richard Boucher said Powell's prostate was removed during the two-hour operation.

Doctors say the surgery went fine.

According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men.

Who is at Risk for Prostate Cancer?

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in North American men after skin cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in men after lung cancer.

Both the number of new cases of prostate cancer and the number of deaths due to prostate cancer have increased in the past decade.

Anything that increases a person's chance of developing a disease is called a risk factor. Some of these risk factors for prostate cancer are:

Age - Prostate cancer is rarely seen in men younger than 50-years-old. The chance of developing prostate cancer increases as men get older.

Race - Black males are more likely to develop prostate cancer than white males. Black males are also more likely to die of prostate cancer than white males.

Family History of Prostate Cancer - A man whose father, brother, or son has had prostate cancer has a higher-than-average risk of developing prostate cancer.

Other potential risk factors include alcohol consumption, vitamin or mineral interactions, and other dietary habits.

Source: http://cancernet.nci.nih.gov/cgi-bin/srchcgi.exe?DBID=pdq&TYPE=search&UID=280+02606&ZFILE=patient&SFMT=pdq_scrprv/1/0/0 (National Cancer Institute) contributed to this report.