News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Editors Note: This is Men’s Health Week. We explore ways men can live longer and take care of themselves through tests, screenings and prevention.
Doctors recommend diligent observation when it comes to prostate cancer.
While it is the third deadliest cancer for men, Cookeville Regional Urologist Dr. Rick Smith said he wants to emphasize that it’s also one of the most treatable.
“Not only is it very treatable, there’s every reason to expect a long and fruitful life as long as you do maintain diligence in treatment,” Smith said. “Don’t be scared of the disease, just be aware of it.”
Smith said that in about 25 percent of cases, observation is the recommended course of action after a diagnosis. Smith said that because prostate cancer tends to be slow-growing, surveillance is preferred because it has less side effects than harsher treatments.
“Because some of the treatments will have unwanted side effects, some unwanted effects on the quality of life of the individual, and so hearing horror stories of maybe family members or people in the community, a lot of men will shy away because they’re fearful of quality of life issues,” Smith said. “There’s ways to mitigate those things and none the least of which is if it’s a relatively aggressive type of tumor, we’ll just sit and watch it and that’s a very commonly utilized form of therapy.”
Smith recommends starting screenings at age 50, and even as early as age 40 is there is a history of prostate cancer on the father’s side of the family. Smith said that African American men are roughly two times more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than Caucasian men.
Smith said there are approximately 200,000 cases of prostate cancer a year and that 2019 data showed some 31 thousand deaths. Urologist Dr. Lee Moore said because there aren’t exact warning signs in prostate cancer, screening is imperative.
“Unfortunately there aren’t really enough warning signs that occur early enough to become suspicious, that’s why we have screening for cancer with the prostate test called a PSA, and an examination called a DRE or a Digital Rectal Exam,” Moore said. “That’s why it’s important for men to be screened for prostate cancer, like women are screened for breast cancer and all folks are screened for colon cancer.”
