Prostate cancer: What you need to know

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men in the United States, yet many men remain unaware of their risk or avoid conversations that could save their lives potentially. According to Movember, more than 1.4 million men worldwide are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year. That number is expected to nearly double by the year 2040. In the United States, one in eight men will be diagnosed during his lifetime. Rebecca Dabbs, U.S. Implementation Director for Movember's Prostate Cancer Portfolio, joins us this morning to talk about the risks and how the organization is raising awareness during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Such important work. Rebecca, good morning. Good morning, Dave. Thank you so much for being with us. I just got a couple questions here. We're talking about those numbers of prostate cancer cases doubling by 2040. Why do we think we're going to be seeing so many more of these cases? Well, that increase is actually driven by an aging and growing population and not necessarily tied to a behavioral issue the way that smoking is tied to lung cancer. That trend cannot be prevented through lifestyle changes alone. So it's key for men to know that prostate cancer is the number one cancer among men and they need to know their risks to begin conversations with their doctor about screening. First of all, like so many cancers, but it is so true when it comes to prostate cancer. Early detection is so important. It's the difference between a really good outcome and a really big struggle. Absolutely. Early detection is very important, which is why you need to get in there at the age that is appropriate for you. A lot of people assume that prostate cancer screening is associated to a digital rectal exam and I would like to put that to rest here this morning. The recommended screening for prostate cancer starts first with a conversation with your doctor, followed by a simple blood test or PSA test. You speak about early detection. It's important for people to know that all men or those with the prostate are at risk for prostate cancer. So that conversation should begin at the age of 50. For individuals who are a little bit more high risk, such as black men or those with a family history, that conversation needs to start earlier at the age of 40. Wow. Okay. So I put myself in that group having had that conversation, but my dad did have prostate cancer and a very good outcome with it. But you just said certain groups need to start that earlier. So, and that really starts with blood work, maybe on the front end. Yeah. Well, it starts first with a conversation with your doctor and then a simple blood test. It's a PSA test and it looks for a specific antigen in your blood. And it's more precise than the previously used digital rectal exam or DRE. Now your doctor may still use a DRE, but they should know, your audience should know that it actually, the recommended screening tool is a blood test. Yeah. And again, that's, that's how it was caught in my family's case. Again, very, very early detected in that blood work before any other symptoms there. Absolutely. What happens then if someone gets a diagnosis, there's so many resources and aids as they decide what, how to treat it, what the treatment is, where do people go from there? Yeah. Diagnosis could be incredibly overwhelming for individuals and their families. I recommend they go to our website, Movember.com, where we have a prostate cancer hub with a lot of information about risk. And for those who are diagnosed, I recommend going to our truenorth.movember.com, where there's a lot of post diagnosis. So after you've been diagnosed, diagnose resources available for patients and their families. We'll have to leave it there. Movember.com, there's a website on your screen, more information on all of it. So important for, for men. And I will include myself in that number to get on this and take care of this. Rebecca Dobbs, thank you so much for this information. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Thank you.