This report summarizes the presentations and discussions that took place at the Fifth Joint Meeting of J-CaP and CaPSURE held in Tokyo, Japan, in July 2011. The J-CaP and CaPSURE Joint Initiative was established in 2007 with the objective of analyzing, reviewing, comparing and contrasting data on prostate cancer patients from Japan and the USA within the two important large-scale, longitudinal, observational databases-J-CaP and CaPSURE. Since its inception, the initiative has reviewed a wide range of topics and generated valuable data on the patterns of prostate cancer treatment and patient outcomes in the two geographical regions. The objectives of this 5th Joint Meeting were to provide an update on the current status of the J-CaP and CaPSURE databases, and also to discuss perspectives from a range of other Asian countries-Japan, China, Indonesia and Korea-on the use of androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer. The collaborators recognize that large databases, such as J-CaP and CaPSURE, provide valuable 'real-world' information, to complement data from clinical trials, which can help to advance the clinical management of prostate cancer patients worldwide. It is anticipated that in the near future, the Joint Initiative will expand globally to include patient registries from other countries so that best practice can be shared and regional differences in patients, treatments and outcomes can be explored.