PROSTATE CANCERE AWARENESS WEEK: EARLY DETECTION KEY

Some men are afraid of what they might learn. Some are embarrassed. Some feel uncomfortable because they don't know what to expect.

But whatever a man's reason for not having a prostate cancer screening, he should be more concerned with what might happen should he not get one.

One of every 11 men will develop prostate cancer, according to figures from the American Cancer Society.

"Early detection is a key to survival," and prostate cancer screenings are a key to early detection, said Nancy Mattingly, cancer program coordinator at Southeast Missouri Hospital, who noted this is Prostate Cancer Awareness Week.

"Prostate cancer is asymptomatic in the early stages," said Dr. Paul D. Thompson, a urologist with Cape Girardeau Urology Associates. By the time a man starts to feel ill, the cancer may have spread and it may be too late for successful treatment.

"That's why men over 40 need a yearly checkup," Mattingly said. By the time symptoms appear, the cancer is often in more advance stages and is more difficult to treat.

The screening is a quick exam, said Thompson, who will be one of the doctors giving free screenings from 7 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Regional Cancer Center at Southeast Missouri Hospital. In that time about 500 men will be screened. Few appointment times are left for that screening, but men can have the exam done at a doctor's office.

The screening involves a PSA blood test, which detects substances in the blood that may indicate prostate cancer, and a digital rectal exam. It's the thought of the latter, an exam in which a doctor inserts a finger into the patient's rectum to feel the prostate gland, that makes some men uncomfortable.

"Men say, 'Now that we have the PSA, do I still need a rectal exam,'" Thompson said. "But the PSA is not 100 percent accurate."

"The most important part is the digital rectal exam," Mattingly said. Abnormalities can be felt through this exam that might not be detected any other way.

Thompson said that using the PSA, the rectal exam and, if problems are found, a biopsy, the accuracy rate is more than 90 percent.

Men with a family history of prostate cancer, that is if a close relative like a brother or father have had it, should begin screenings at 40. Those with no family history of prostate cancer should begin between ages 45 and 50. African-American men, because of the high incidence of prostate cancer in this group, should start between ages 40 to 45.

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer in men and the second most fatal. This year alone, 135,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.

"Men's greatest fear of prostate cancer is not death but impotence," Thompson said. And more public awareness of the success of early treatment and products like Viagra have taken some of the fear out of the screening process, Thompson said.

Also enhancing awareness are celebrities who have been open about their prostate cancer like Arnold Palmer, Norman Schwarzkopf and Frank Zappa.

Men are becoming more aware of the dangers of prostate cancer, Thompson said. An increasing number of men are realizing the importance of early treatment and the need for screenings.