PROSTATE cancer is the second most common cancer in men, with one in six men likely to suffer from the disease.
Despite the alarming statistics, mortality rates drastically decrease if men over the age of 50 undergo annual screening tests, oncologist Dr Pavlos Drakou said yesterday.
“Caught at an early stage there is a good chance it can be cured,” he said.
Drakou was speaking at a Cancer Patients and Friends Association press conference, marking the beginning of a yearlong male cancer awareness campaign, backed by the Health Ministry. The campaign will focus on both prostate and testicular cancer, whose causes are yet unknown, said Drakou.
Testicular cancer is a rare disease, which results as an abnormal growth of cells of the testicle, and most often affects men aged between 15 and 35, said Drakou. Although not a common cancer, only affecting 0.2 per cent of men, it is one of the most common cancers affecting this age group. “Therefore it is important for men to be aware of the disease and examine themselves regularly because, if caught early, it can usually be treated and cured,” he said.
On the other hand, prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men – after lung cancer – and mainly affects older men. However, the risk increases steadily with age and by the time men are 80, around 80 per cent will have some cancerous growth, said Drakou.
But, “30 per cent of all forms of cancers, including male cancers, are preventable and 30 per cent are curable if diagnosed early,” stressed Health Minister Dina Akkelidou. “It is obvious that to achieve prevention or early detection of various forms of cancer, systematic, effective and timely public awareness is needed… The taboo of male cancer must also be broken so that men ensure they have regular check-ups,” she said.
In order to achieve this, a series of lectures and presentations on both types of cancers have been organised over the next year to take place within the National Guard, secondary schools, semi-government organisations, private organisations, banks, political organisations, sports clubs and social clubs.
In its early stages, prostate cancer often has no symptoms; sometimes when symptoms are present, men are too embarrassed to seek medical advice, despite the fact that if detected early, it can often be cured. “In fact women should look out for their men, because it would appear that women are more aware about prevention and early detection. For every 10 women screened for breast cancer, only one man screens for prostate cancer,” he added.
Symptoms include difficulty in passing urine, a weak sometimes intermittent flow of urine, dribbling of urine before and after urinating, a frequent or urgent need to pass urine, a need to get up several times in the night to urinate, a feeling the bladder is not completely empty and, although rare, blood in the urine.
Early diagnosis methods include a PSA blood test (if an abnormally high level of prostate-specific antigen is detected in the blood, prostate cancer is a possibility), a digital rectal examination, a prostate ultrasound and a biopsy.
Diagnosis at an early stage of the disease dramatically increases survival rates up to 93 per cent, as compared to just 15 per cent if the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes or spread to more distant sites, said Drakou. Once diagnosed, treatments include surgery, hormone therapy, radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy.
Symptoms of testicular cancer on the other hand are very different. Sufferers may feel a lump, irregularity or enlargement in either testicle, said urologist Dr Stavros Petrakis. “A pulling sensation or feeling of unusual heaviness of the scrotum; a dull ache in the groin or lower abdomen; and pain or discomfort in a testicle or scrotum,” were other symptoms, he added.
“In order to prevent testicular cancer the most important thing boys and men can do is to conduct a self-examination of their testicles after a warm shower or bath at least once a month,” he said. “Any change or detection of above symptoms should be checked out by a doctor,” added Petrakis. If cancer is detected, treatment can include surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. “The earlier sage at which the cancer is diagnosed, the better the chances for a patient’s recovery, with cure rates as high as 90 per cent,” he said.
