Provided are SNP panels and methods that employ SNP panels for predicting prostate cancer-specific mortality in a human patient. Exemplary SNP panels presented herein comprise one or more of the SNPs designated rs1137100, rs228697, rs2839685, rs1799814, rs627839, rs5993891, rs635261, rs11710277, rs11205, rs2494750, rs4608577, rs4645959, rs1799964, rs25487, rs2308327, rs915927, rs2070874, rs1029153, rs12467911, rs10778534, rs523349, and rs4583514 and are exemplified by SNP panels comprising variant alleles in one or more of the SNPs designated rs1137100, rs2070874, rs10778534, rs627839, and rs5993891.