Bethesda Promotes Prostate Cancer Awareness

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Timothy Wilson, National Naval Medical Center Public Affairs

BETHESDA, Md. (NNS) -- The National Naval Medical Center's Urology Clinic is offering free prostate cancer screenings every Wednesday in September.

The screening, which only takes a few minutes, is designed to alert men of the potential dangers of prostate cancer.

"Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men, after skin cancer," said Army Lt. Col. Stacey Koff, a staff urologist at NNMC. "The American Urologic Association [Foundation] recommends screening starting at age 40."

Two types of analysis are performed to test for cancer, including testing for a prostate specific antigen (PSA) which is a protein produced by the cells of the prostate gland, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

"It's a blood test and the prostate is the only part of your body that produces PSA," said Koff. "Normally, a little [PSA enters] the blood stream, but when the architecture of the prostate changes because of cancer, trauma or infections, more PSA will [enter] the blood stream, so it is a way to check for possible prostate cancer."

The second test is the digital rectal exam (DRE), more commonly known as the prostate exam.

"About 20 to 25 percent of prostate cancers are diagnosed [through] PSA value, so you really need to put those two together in order to take optimum care of the men," said Koff.

Prostate cancer tends to progress slowly, so it is possible many men will not notice the effects of the disease if their life expectancy is within approximately 10 to 15 years, said Koff. After that time period, they may begin to feel the effects of the cancer. For example, metastasis of the bones may occur, meaning the disease moves from one part of the body to another.

"You can get painful spine and bone lesions," said Koff. "After that, the prostate can bleed and you can get infections and weakness over all from the bone breakdown and the cancer spreading."

Patients should discuss screening with their doctors to ensure the tests are necessary.

"Screening should be helpful to decrease the potential for morbidity and mortality of a cancer diagnosis," said Koff.

Additionally, men who have a family history of prostate cancer should have a discussion with their urologist; a biopsy may be performed to determine if further steps are necessary to treat the cancer. Based on the health and life expectancy of the patient, the doctor may just monitor the cancer over time, intervening with medical attention only when necessary.

The benefit of early testing is to determine the proper course of action, said Koff, adding that even though 40 is the proper age to begin testing, cancers have been found in younger men, which allows the cancer more time to grow and metastasize.

According to the American Urologic Association Foundation, more than 192,000 men were diagnosed in 2009. In general, one in 35 will die from it and African American men are twice as likely than white men to die of the disease.

"We don't know the cause of prostate cancer for some men and it probably has a genetic component, [but] for many men it doesn't," said Koff. "It does not seem to be associated with smoking like many cancers."

She added that weight control, eating whole grains and vegetables, as well as 30 minutes of exercise a day are basic guidelines the NCI has stressed.

"We hope people come by [to get checked]," she said.