Sept. 18-22 is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Week

Family History Calls for Earlier Testing

Men who have a family history of prostate cancer are more likely to develop the disease and should be tested annually beginning at age 40.

"Those men who have a father or brother with prostate cancer should begin annual screening exams earlier than those who have no family history of the disease," said Dr. Kevin Slawin, associate professor of urology at Baylor College of Medicine and director of the Baylor Prostate Center.

Recommendations are for men without a family history of prostate cancer to begin annual screenings at age 50. Those with a family history of the disease and African-American men should begin screenings at age 40.

"Early diagnosis is the key to successful treatment of prostate cancer," said Slawin, also a urologist with The Urology Institute at The Methodist Hospital. "Men who are screened each year have a much better chance of detecting problems early when the outcome is more favorable."

About one in every eight men will develop prostate cancer. It is second only to lung cancer as the leading cause of death by cancer in men. Risk of developing prostate cancer increases with age.

The National Cancer Institute predicts that more than 180,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in the year 2000. More than 30,000 will die from the disease. For African-American men, the mortality rate doubles.

Screening for prostate cancer includes a digital rectal exam and a Prostate Specific Antigen blood test. If the PSA test shows slight elevations, another type of PSA test can be used to determine if the results are due to cancer or an enlarged prostate.

The standard treatment for prostate cancer that has not spread to other areas of the body includes surgical removal of the prostate or radiation therapy.

For more information on free prostate cancer screening during National Prostate Cancer Awareness Week Sept. 18-22, call The Methodist Health Care System at 1-877-200-3376.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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