By Virginia “Ginya” Carnahan, APR.CPRC, Director of Marketing & Development,
Dattoli Cancer Center & Brachytherapy Research Institute
The summer is gone, although it is still hot! Kids are back in school and school buses are clogging the roads. School supplies blew your monthly budget. You didn’t get to take a vacation. Everybody else did. No wonder you are blue.
In my world, September is Blue Ribbon Month. The blue ribbon is the symbol for Prostate Cancer Awareness and someone, somewhere established September as the month to raise awareness about this cancer. For nearly two decades through my affiliation with the Dattoli Cancer Center & Foundation I have been striving daily to make people (especially men of a “certain age”) aware of the real threat of prostate cancer. I’m not sure I’ve made much progress, and that makes me blue.
Any worthwhile discussion should begin with the numbers. Numbers define everything*:
. The estimated number of new cancer cases in the US in 2017 is 1,688,780.
. The estimated number of new Prostate Cancer cases in the US in 2017 is 161,360.
. The estimated number of Prostate Cancer deaths in the US in 2017 is 26,730.
. The estimated number of new cancer cases in Florida in 2017 is 124,740.
. The estimated number of new Prostate Cancer cases in Florida in 2017 is 12,830.
. The estimated number of Prostate Cancer deaths in Florida in 2017 is 2,050.
How does this compare to breast cancer?
. The estimated number of new Breast Cancer cases in Florida in 2017 is 18,170.
. The estimated number of Breast Cancer deaths in Florida in 2017 is 2,910.
*The American Cancer Society: Cancer Facts and Figures 2017.
These numbers are pretty similar, but we are not comparing apples to apples here. Remember – women have two breasts and men have just one prostate. Each new case of prostate cancer represents one man. For breast cancer, each new case is one breast and some women will actually have cancer in both breasts. My basic Google research tells me that between 4 and 20% of women with breast cancer will have bilateral disease. So the number of new cases of breast cancer can be extrapolated by -4-20% to estimate the number of individual women who are diagnosed with the disease.
I have long heard at conferences and in casual discussion that more men were diagnosed with prostate cancer annually than women were diagnosed with breast cancer. Based on the current ACS data, this can only be accurate if we account for one prostate VS two breasts.
Additional Google research tells me that the risk of being diagnosed with either breast or prostate cancer is 1 in 8.
These numbers are meaningless, however, if you are the ONE diagnosed. What can we do about this huge loss of life – nearly 5,000 people in Florida will die of these two cancers this year?
For breast, prostate, lung, skin – most any type of cancer – your odds of survival are greatly increased by EARLY DETECTION. Bless the gals and their “Save the Tatas” campaign for raising awareness of breast cancer. Their pink ribbon awareness campaigns, marches, marathons, etc. have permeated nearly every corner of society. The outreach to industry is equally amazing. Who would have thought that things such as pink chainsaws, pink Jeeps, pink tractors and more would become agents of any kind of cancer awareness, much less breast cancer?
Women (and others) can’t escape the barrage of “pinkness” as Breast Cancer Awareness Month rolls around in October. The message seems to have hit home. I don’t know these numbers, but I suspect that most mainstream women (meaning those with access to healthcare and ability to pay) get annual mammograms (and PAP smears for cervical cancer). My “theory” is that women are introduced to routine, annual healthcare and awareness when they reach child-bearing maturity. Men do not have a similar physical event to imprint them with a basic healthcare awareness.
Very few men actually schedule an annual physical exam that would include a prostate cancer screening exam when they reach age 50. From what I can tell, a complete physical exam is rarely planned except in the case of pre-employment physicals, or if the gentleman has climbed the corporate ladder to the executive level where an annual exam is a perk and often required.
What does it take to get you guys to “man up” and take the time for a quick exam that could save your life? The prostate cancer screening is a two part exam that is recommended for men around age 50, primarily to set a baseline “normal” for the man.
Part one of the exam is taking one small tube of blood for analysis under a microscope. We will be looking to calculate PSA (Prostatic Specific Antigen),
a component that can tell the relative health of the prostate gland. Depending on the man’s age, we can tell if his PSA is normal or abnormal.
Part two is a physical exam of the gland itself, called DRE (Digital Rectal Exam). The doctor will insert a gloved and lubricated finger into the rectum to feel the size, shape and texture of the gland. Understandably men seem to be put off by this exam. It only lasts a few seconds and shouldn’t be feared!
If either of the exams proves abnormal, the man will be encouraged to see a urologist for further testing.
Men I know will say, “I feel great. Why should I do that?” Prostate Cancer is one of those diseases that don’t cause symptoms until it is well established. Sure you “feel great,” but without screening you wouldn’t know that a potentially deadly cancer is growing in your prostate gland. Finding it early provides the best chance for survival and cure!
Here are the known risk factors for developing Prostate Cancer:
• Family history – if your father, uncle, brother has had the disease
• Age – over age 50
• Geographic location – high incidence in the U.S.; lower elsewhere
And here are some lesser known but reported risk factors:
• Tall height
• Lack of exercise and a sedentary lifestyle
• High calcium intake
• African-American race
• Agent Orange exposure
• smoking
• obesity
There you go – if any of these risk factors describes YOU, you really should get screened.
Psst – I know that most of you reading this article will be women! Please take this information to heart and discuss it with the men in your life. You could be doing them (and you) a huge favor!
FREE PROSTATE CANCER
SCREENING EVENT
Saturday, September 9 – 10:00 until 2:00
Dattoli Cancer Center & Foundation
2803 Fruitville Road
Info before event: 941-365-5599
Dattoli Cancer Center & Brachytherapy Research Institute
941/365-5599
1-877-DATTOLI | www.dattoli.com