Prostate cancer screenings are key to early detection of cancer

A relatively quiet health crisis in the United States has passed under the national radar for decades, disproportionately affecting African American men more than any other group.

Prostate Cancer Foundation statistics reveal the disparity:

• Prostate cancer affects 1 in 7 men.
• African American men are 60% more likely to develop the disease.
• African American men are 2.4 times more likely to die of prostate cancer than men of other races.
• Prostate cancer in African American men is more common than any other ethnic group in the country.

Although the cause of the disparity has not been definitively determined, it is widely believed that a combination of genetics, lifestyles and dietary habits, and the quality and frequency of medical care play an important role.

Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and I have a key message for men of all races: Prostate cancer screening helps save lives. It’s a simple test, routinely done during your annual physical exam in which your doctor evaluates your prostate for enlargement or abnormalities and checks your blood with what’s known as a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. (PSA is a protein secreted only by the prostate and can be easily measured in the blood of all men.)

If the PSA level falls below the normal range, additional tests may be needed to determine if a person has prostate cancer. PSA testing can help detect cancer before symptoms appear, and this is where these tests help save lives.

remembers:

• Because symptoms generally develop after the disease has progressed to an advanced stage, the best time to detect and treat prostate cancer is when there are no symptoms.
• Prostate cancer has better treatment outcomes when it’s caught early.
• If you have symptoms that include painful urination, blood in the urine, or persistent pain or stiffness in the lower back, hips, or upper thighs, it is imperative that you be evaluated by a doctor as soon as possible.

bypass biopsies

For many years when prostate cancer was discovered, biopsy was the main assessment and follow-up tool. But biopsies have inherent drawbacks. Tissue samples from one area of ​​the prostate may not reveal the presence of cancer cells in another area of ​​the organ.

Advances in 3D imaging, known as multifactorial magnetic resonance imaging, are offering clinicians a new tool that allows them to monitor the entire prostate and helps guide decisions about treatment options.

Surgery may sometimes be needed to remove the prostate and surrounding lymph nodes. At other times, radiotherapy and brachytherapy (which implant tiny radioactive “seeds” directly into tissue) may be recommended.

In some men, certain hormone treatments can help shrink prostate tumors, but these treatments aren’t recommended for all patients. The prostate cancer survival rate for African Americans who underwent hormone therapy to treat prostate cancer is lower than for men of other races, for example.

On the other hand, multi-parameter MRI can provide the freedom for clinicians and patients to continue “active monitoring”, which is a non-invasive monitoring option. Multi-factor imaging allows doctors to closely monitor the situation and can reduce or eliminate the need for surgery.

The combination of available treatment options helps improve the long-term outlook for men with early-stage prostate cancer. With early detection and treatment of low-risk prostate cancer, patients who do not have evidence of disease at follow-up examinations have a high chance of the cancer not returning. For moderate and high-risk cases, the proportions are normally lower.

So this month and every month, if you’re over 40, and especially of African descent, ask your doctor for a yearly checkup as part of your routine physical exam.