What Do You Know About Prostate Cancer?

​When a person thinks of cancer, they may think of Breast Cancer; which is recognized every October. There are events held, along with it being recognized on social media. There are other forms of cancer; such as colon cancer and lung cancer that may be dear to a person’s heart and thought of on the regular basis.

However, there is one important form of cancer that many may not think of as frequently and that is prostate cancer.  According to the CDC, prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer among American men. The cancer normally develops slowly. Most men with Prostate cancer are over the age of 65 and do not die from the disease. The American Cancer Society says that approximately 1 in 7 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime; about 6 and 10 cases are in men that are 65 and older and it rare before the age of 40.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  For those that do not know; prostate cancer is a cancer that begins in the tissues of the prostate gland.  The Prostate gland is just below the bladder and in front of the rectum; it is the male sex gland responsible for producing semen.

I hope that everyone takes this information and uses it to their advantage. It is very important and detrimental that all men get a Digital Rectal Exam or DRE; this is where a doctor or nurse inserts their gloved, lubricated finger into the rectum; to estimate the size of the prostate and feel for lumps or other abnormalities. Another important exam for men to get; is the Prostate Specific Antigen test (PSA); which measures the level of PSA in the blood. PSA is a substance made by the prostate. The levels of PSA in the blood can be higher in men who have prostate cancer. There are about 161, 360 new cases of prostate cancer and 26,730 deaths from the disease; I encourage men of all ages to take these exams; and get as much information as they can on the disease; so that these numbers can decrease. Our fathers, husbands, brothers and friends are very pertinent in our lives; but where will they be if Prostate cancer takes them away?

​By Shakara Jenkins

​*All information/research in this article is derived from the Centers for Disease Control, Prevention and Cancer Treatment Centers of America, and American Cancer Society.

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