Hospital urges cancer checks

CHI St. Vincent, foundation push to raise awareness

HOT SPRINGS — Prostate Cancer Awareness Month kicks off Sept. 1, but due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic many people, men and women alike, have been putting off their annual exams, which can cause a treatable condition to get out of hand if not caught early.

With one in nine men being diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime — and a simple blood test taken at an annual exam being able to detect it early — CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs will be working with the Arkansas Prostate Cancer Foundation next month to raise awareness of the disease and encourage men to get their annual exams.

“It’s important for all people, men and women, to maintain their ongoing annual checkups and so-forth, and dialogue with their physicians [during] a pandemic or anything else,” Arkansas Prostate Cancer Foundation Executive Director Chris Collier noted. “Everybody’s got to take the appropriate steps to be careful during this time, but you can’t simply ignore your health just because there is a pandemic.”

With prostate cancer specifically, Collier said it is three times more prevalent in African American men, therefore Black men and men with a family history of the disease need to begin having dialogue with their physician at their annual checkups for the need of a blood test once they turn 45. As for every other man, they all need to begin doing this once they turn 50.

He noted over 90% of men who get prostate cancer have “absolutely no symptoms.”

“Oftentimes, people say ‘Gosh, I didn’t know men still got that,’ and the reality is last year more men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in the state of Arkansas than any other form of cancer,” Collier said. “The thing that we try to make people understand is that it’s still, unfortunately, a very viable cancer.”

The method of testing for this disease is another thing commonly misconceived among the general public.

“Your initial screening is the [Prostate Specific Antigen] exam, and all that is, which is important because so many people don’t understand this, is simply having a vial of blood drawn; it’s not a physical exam, there’s no other examination accompanying that, at least initially,” Collier said.

“All you have to do is make sure, as a man, that you have that dialogue with your doctor to say ‘Hey, let’s go ahead and make sure that we’re also screening for my [Prostate Specific Antigen]

numbers while we’re doing this blood work,” he said.

“The earlier that you catch cancer,” he continued, “it frankly gives you more options in terms of treatment. So, unfortunately, if a man opts not to get screened for an extended period of time, let’s say they get on up in years and then they get screened and it’s determined that they do have prostate cancer … if you have stage three or four it greatly limits your options.”

When it comes to preventive measures to reduce the chances of a man getting prostate cancer, Collier said there have been “a number of studies” done as it relates to diet and exercise.

“The thing I’ve read and seen the most is that if men follow something very similar to what’s considered a hearthealthy diet, along with exercise, it probably helps, at least mitigate to some extent, the possibility of them getting it,” he said.

“Having said that, it’s such a hereditary disease, and it’s something that … as a man, if you live long enough, you will probably get prostate cancer. That does not mean it will be what kills you, because many men die from any number of other things, but without question if you live long enough there’s a good chance you’re going to get it.”