8-29-06

Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men, but it can be successfully treated if caught early.

Prostate cancer is expected to strike about 220,000 men this year, but it can be cured if it is diagnosed and treated early in the disease. Dr. Thomas Tarter, associate professor of urology at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield, explains how prostate cancer is detected.

SOUND BITE: "Well usually men who have a new diagnosis of prostate cancer are surprised by the diagnosis, because it is discovered usually with a blood test, a PSA test or with a digital rectal exam. Usually these men won’t have symptoms."

Dr. Tarter says if cancer is detected early and if it is confined to the prostate gland, it can be cured with radiation therapy or surgery. The American Cancer Society and American Urological Association recommend that all men be screened at age 50. Dr. Tarter urges high-risk individuals to be tested at an earlier age.

SOUND BITE: ". . . I would encourage any man who has a primary relative with prostate cancer and any African-American man, if they haven’t been screened for prostate cancer, to get onto screening and these men should begin screening in their 40s."

Prostate cancer screening programs are available in many communities. Medicare and most health insurance companies usually cover prostate cancer screening tests, so men who are 50-years old or older should ask their primary care physician about getting this important test.

This is Ruth Slottag at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield.