Comments on: New Guidelines for Prostate Cancer Screening http://www.oomphtv.com/health/new-guidelines-for-prostate-cancer-screening baby boomer lifestyle Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:30:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Robert Hess http://www.oomphtv.com/health/new-guidelines-for-prostate-cancer-screening/comment-page-1#comment-51 Robert Hess Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:07:32 +0000 http://www.oomphtv.com/?p=1290#comment-51 From my perspective as an accidental prostate cancer survivor, I believe we lack the detailed statistics to set the testing standard so late in life, especially when we lose almost 29,000 each year to prostate cancer, over a million men since the War on Cancer was declared in 1971.  Personally, my cancer was diagnosed at stage T2C when my PSA was 3.2 and a negative DRE - I had two tumors sitting on top of the prostate where they could not be felt during a DRE.  My urologist used a simple Free PSA test, which is hardly ever mentioned, to determine there was a highly probability of prostate cancer present.  Two series of needle biopsies later the cancer was found. The constant focus on potential treatment side effects causes men to be even more reluctant to think about prostate cancer.  What we need is more balanced education about prostate cancer so that men can make good treatment decisions.  Trying to learn about prostate cancer after you have received a diagnosis is highly stressful.  It's not knowing you have cancer that causes over treatment, it is more a function of not knowing if you have an aggressive form of the disease and a clear picture of the full range of treatment options, along with genuine statistics about the potential side effects of each option. I will be crossing the US and back this summer by motorcycle to raise men's awareness of prostate cancer.   Our route details are posted at http://www.tourdeusa.org.  I would enjoy meeting people at stops along the way - 24 states and 46 days. Robert Hess President/Prostate Cancer Survivor Prostate Cancer Awareness Project Manhattan Beach, CA From my perspective as an accidental prostate cancer survivor, I believe we lack the detailed statistics to set the testing standard so late in life, especially when we lose almost 29,000 each year to prostate cancer, over a million men since the War on Cancer was declared in 1971.  Personally, my cancer was diagnosed at stage T2C when my PSA was 3.2 and a negative DRE – I had two tumors sitting on top of the prostate where they could not be felt during a DRE.  My urologist used a simple Free PSA test, which is hardly ever mentioned, to determine there was a highly probability of prostate cancer present.  Two series of needle biopsies later the cancer was found.
The constant focus on potential treatment side effects causes men to be even more reluctant to think about prostate cancer.  What we need is more balanced education about prostate cancer so that men can make good treatment decisions.  Trying to learn about prostate cancer after you have received a diagnosis is highly stressful.  It’s not knowing you have cancer that causes over treatment, it is more a function of not knowing if you have an aggressive form of the disease and a clear picture of the full range of treatment options, along with genuine statistics about the potential side effects of each option.
I will be crossing the US and back this summer by motorcycle to raise men’s awareness of prostate cancer.   Our route details are posted at http://www.tourdeusa.org.  I would enjoy meeting people at stops along the way – 24 states and 46 days.
Robert Hess
President/Prostate Cancer Survivor
Prostate Cancer Awareness Project
Manhattan Beach, CA

]]> By: Joseph Getchel http://www.oomphtv.com/health/new-guidelines-for-prostate-cancer-screening/comment-page-1#comment-50 Joseph Getchel Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:46:46 +0000 http://www.oomphtv.com/?p=1290#comment-50 Well, the ACS strikes again!  Would the authors of these new guidelines say the same about screening (PSA & DRE) if they were in a high-risk category? Because of detection at 49 (PSA & DRE screening), I have been free of cancer for 11 years.  I know of another individual who was just diagnosed at 65 (had not had prior screening), and is now having to go through salvage Radiation Therapy, because they did not catch the cancer soon enough. How many men have to die of Prostate Cancer, who could have been diagnosed early enough to be effectively treated, before these guidelines are reversed/revised?  There is anecdotal evidence that the number of men dying of Prostate Cancer has dropped since the introduction of the PSA Test, while the number of detected cases of PCa has risen (why doesn't the ACS do a scientific study?). Well, the ACS strikes again!  Would the authors of these new guidelines say the same about screening (PSA & DRE) if they were in a high-risk category?
Because of detection at 49 (PSA & DRE screening), I have been free of cancer for 11 years.  I know of another individual who was just diagnosed at 65 (had not had prior screening), and is now having to go through salvage Radiation Therapy, because they did not catch the cancer soon enough.
How many men have to die of Prostate Cancer, who could have been diagnosed early enough to be effectively treated, before these guidelines are reversed/revised? 
There is anecdotal evidence that the number of men dying of Prostate Cancer has dropped since the introduction of the PSA Test, while the number of detected cases of PCa has risen (why doesn’t the ACS do a scientific study?).

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