Prostate Cancer Awareness Month: What You Need to Know

Prostate Cancer Awareness Month: What You Need to Know

September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. UF Health urologists Brandon Otto, M.D., and Thomas Stringer, M.D., answer the most common questions about prostate cancer — and quickly review what you need to know about screening for this disease.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. About 160,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year alone. Prostate cancer occurs when cells in the prostate take on abnormal changes or what we call mutations and can eventually turn into prostate cancer. Because most prostate cancers are asymptomatic, we recommend screening. The American Urologic Association recommends that all men age 55 to 69 talk to their doctor about prostate cancer screening, which again consists of a blood test and a physical exam. Most men who have prostate cancer actually do not have symptoms. Most of the time it is diagnosed on physical exam with the digital rectal exam or on the blood tests, the PSA test. Advanced prostate cancer can present with difficulty urinating, blood in the urine, bone pain, weight loss, but that's usually not until it's very advanced. The whole point of prostate cancer screening is to find early prostate cancer, early aggressive prostate cancer, when treatment makes a difference. So in that process sometimes you will find prostate cancer that's more latent, doesn't need treatment, can be watched and observed, but in that process you'll also find aggressive prostate cancer managed early is curative. Late diagnosis in the process of disease is not curative so it gives you this window of time to make a difference and as far as cancer survival.

#Prostate #Cancer #Awareness #Month

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