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Prostate Cancer Awareness Month Kicks Off in September
By National Prostate Cancer Coalition
Sep 9, 2006, 06:51

For Immediate Release 08.31.2006

Contact: Jamie Bearse 202-303-3105

Prostate Cancer Awareness Month Kicks Off

Survey Shows Only 52 Percent of Men Over 50 Get Screened for Prostate Cancer

WASHINGTON, D.C. Just as the National Prostate Cancer Coalition (NPCC) and the White House have declared September National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month for the sixth straight year, new data shows that 52 percent of men over 50 get tested for prostate cancer [1].

“Considering the fact that 99 percent of men survive when prostate cancer is caught early, it’s disturbing to see so few men get screened for the disease,” said NPCC CEO Richard N. Atkins, M.D. said. “Prostate cancer has no symptoms in its early stages so the only way to get the odds in your favor is to get screened every year.”

In an effort to raise awareness this September, NPCC has teamed up with Vitamin World to sell blue Fight Prostate Cancer wrist bands, available at every Vitamin World location and at www.fightprostatecancer.org, and partnered with the Gillette Prostate Cancer Challenge to offer free screenings at select cities onboard the Drive Against Prostate Cancer the only national mobile testing program for the disease during September.

Also this September, NPCC is setting the record straight about the PSA the blood test used to detect prostate cancer.

“We need a better test to save lives. The prostate specific antigen blood test (PSA) is not perfect. There are false positives and false negatives, meaning it will tell you have prostate cancer when you don’t and you don’t have prostate cancer when you do. Still, it works, it saves lives and countless prostate cancer survivors are thankful for the test” said Atkins.

Here’s what the opponents of the test aren’t telling you:

• LOWER NUMBER OF DEATHS. Widespread use of the PSA is responsible for:
  1. A 35 percent drop in deaths from the disease just since 1997 [2].
  2. An increase in the five-year survival rates from 75 percent to 99 percent [3].
  3. A 75 percent decrease in the incidence of advanced prostate cancer at the time of diagnosis [4].
• MONEY. A PSA test with follow up biopsies can cost thousands of dollars per person. Given that prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer and many men including African Americans, who are at higher risk for prostate cancer, do not have insurance [5]. The government would forced to pick up the tab for preventative healthcare. This is a big reason why the National Cancer Institute and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, leading government agencies, oppose prostate cancer screening and funds studies to discredit the PSA.
• THE PAP SMEAR. Testing for cervical cancer has just as many false positives and false negatives [6]. Try telling women that taking care of their health isn’t in their best interests.
• DR. THOMAS STAMEY. Stamey made a name for himself about 18 months ago for calling the “PSA era in the U.S. over” and discrediting the test. The media even called him the inventor of the PSA test, making the news more dramatic. Fact: Dr. William Catalona, former chief of Urology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, was the first to demonstrate the use of blood tests detecting prostate specific antigens [7]. In July of 2004, (two months before his remarks about the PSA came out in the news), Stamey was named to the scientific advisory board of the Health Discovery Corporation, a biotechnology company focusing on creating new biomarkers for cancer [8].
• DARTMOUTH UNIVERSITY. Two studies discrediting the PSA test released by Dartmouth University in the last three years were funded, in part, by the National Cancer Institute and published in the government agency’s journal.

About the National Prostate Cancer Coalition
Celebrating 10 years of saving lives, the National Prostate Cancer Coalition sets the standard for rapidly reducing the burden of prostate cancer on American men and their families through awareness, outreach and advocacy. NPCC is a four-star non-profit three years running on CharityNavigator.com.

[1] American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention & Early Detection Facts & Figures 2006
[2] American Cancer Society Annual Report on Cancer 2006
[3] National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[4] National Cancer Institute’s SEER Program
[5] U.S. Census Report for 2005
[6] Web MD
[7] Urological Research Foundation
[8] Marketwire.com Health Discovery Corporation Press Release

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