Prostate cancer is an important disease in terms of economic implications because of its increasing incidence and health care costs. We assessed the direct costs of the clinical management of prostate cancer in France. A retrospective study based on population-based data was carried out. Eight hundred and seventy-nine cases of prostate cancer diagnosed in five departments were included in a 5-year follow-up study. The economic analysis adopted the health-care payer's perspective and took into account only the direct costs. The mean cost of managing patients was estimated at euro12,731. It is composed of 49 to 82% of initial treatments according to the therapeutic strategy. The follow-up constituted between 3 and 11%, the costs of treatments for side effects between 1 and 3% and the travel cost between 3 and 7%. Cumulative total costs over 5 years for each treatment group showed variation in costs. Costs were highest for patients who were treated with external-beam radiotherapy and lowest for those with watchful waiting. The cost burden of prostate cancer is high and varies according to the treatment type. This study yielded a cost analysis of the different management practices of patients with prostate cancer.