Are You Aware of Your Personal Risk?
Almost every male is at some degree of risk for prostate cancer. With the exception of non-malignant skin cancer, prostate cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer found in men all around the world.
Prostate Cancer International and The “New” Prostate Cancer InfoLink believe that every man over the age of 40 years of age would be wise to have a conversation with his primary care physician about his personal risk for prostate cancer. Regular tests, consisting of a physical examination and a prostate-specific antigen or PSA test are appropriate for many men, particularly those between about 50 and 70 years of age and any man who may be at higher risk for prostate cancer at a younger age (such as African American men and men with a serious family history of clinically significant prostate cancer). The value of regular PSA testing (“screening”) in men older than about 70 to 75 years of age is a great deal more controversial.
However, you should also be aware that the need for immediate interventional treatment for prostate cancer is a much debated topic. Even if you have signs of possible risk for prostate cancer, you should be quite sure, before you have a biopsy, that you understand the possible risks and side effects of treatment for prostate cancer. Today, many men with low- and very low-risk forms of prostate cancer are advised that their condition can just be monitored on what is known as “active surveillance”.
Major Prostate Cancer Awareness Events
Every year there are a series of events specifically designed to highlight prostate cancer awareness (some only in America; some in other countries; some around the world). The “New” Prostate Cancer InfoLink is either highly supportive of or actively associated with each of the events listed below:
Prostate Cancer Awareness Month — September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month in America.
Prostate Cancer Awareness Week — Since the early 1990s, the Prostate Conditions Education Council has coordinated a variety of events during Prostate Cancer Awareness Week, which always occurs during a week in September.
Father’s Day — Father’s Day has become a day each year on which people are encouraged to talk to their fathers (or spouses, or significant others) about having appropriate tests to check risk for prostate cancer. In the USA, Canada, and the United Kingdom, Fathers’ Day has been celebrated on the third Sunday in June since it became a national holiday in 1966. In Australia and New Zealand, fathers are honored on the first Sunday in September. Many other countries celebrate fathers throughout the year.
Pints for Prostates — Pints for Prostates started in 2008, and was designed to enlist the beer industry in an initiative to encourage early prostate cancer detection. For more information, please visit the Pints for Prostates web site.
The “Movember” Initiative — Every “Movember” (the month formerly known as November) men around the world grow mustaches (“Mo”s in “Strine”) to raise money for prostate cancer research.* Since 2004, the Movember Foundation, which started in Australia, has raised tens of millions of dollars around the world and is continuously working to increase awareness of prostate cancer within the community and change the attitude men have about their health. Formal branches of the Movember Foundation can now be found in Australia, the UK, the USA, Canada, New Zealand, other European nations, and South Africa, but you can participate anywhere in the world.
*Oh. You don’t know what “Strine” is? Strine is the proper term for Australian slang. It comes with its own dictionary and everything.
THE "NEW" PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK 