What's the story with Prostate Cancer and why is no one talking about it?

Red Sleeping Beauty

Why doesn't it get much spotlight compared to say breast cancer ?

I was watching the tail end (pardon the pun) of Tubridy last night and some RTE newscaster was on talking about prostate cancer. And then I just thought to myself as he said that it's more common in Ireland than breast cancer... why the hell do you never hear about it ? (or at least hear enough about it). With breast cancer there's posters and stickers and clinics everywhere. It's a big operation and (is now) taken very seriously. There's lots of information and groups and everything for breast cancer but prostate cancer ? Nup, there'll be a leaflet maybe in your docs or the hospital but aside from that there's not as much publicity to it at all. I'd seriously contest Michael Murphy's claim that all women take their smear tests and gynecology exams extremely seriously but anyways on our side, what the hell is going on ?

So why is no one talking about it ?




A search of google for breast cancer gives you 35,700,000 hits ; narrow that down to within Ireland and you get 80,200 hits.
A search of google for prostate cancer gets you 11,500,000 hits ; narrow that down to Ireland and you get 45,500 .

A search of boards for prostate cancer of course gives you far fewer results than you'll get with breast cancer.
A search of this specific forum for prostate gets you gets you 20 threads.


The above is hardly scientific but you just don't hear about prostate cancer.


RTE late late show is here btw - http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1055277

Fajitas!

It's something that really isn't publicised enough - Part of which is due to telling people to 'check their balls' is a taboo, especially in a country that is governed so much by a religion telling people masterbation is a sin. A dirty dirty sin. So don't touch yourself. :rolleyes:

Seriously, how many lads know how to check themselves? I mean, we know what should be there, but do we know what shouldnt?

Bloody Nipples

The first rule of Prostate Cancer is...

mikom

Alan Rouge wrote: »

some RTE newscaster was on talking about prostate cancer.
So why is no one talking about it ?

Fajitas! wrote: »

It's something that really isn't publicised enough - Part of which is due to telling people to 'check their balls' is a taboo, especially in a country that is governed so much by a religion telling people masterbation is a sin.

Bloody Nipples wrote: »

The first rule of Prostate Cancer is...

Its not found by checking your balls..... that i know.

Fajitas!

Eeep. Mistaken for testicular cancer.

Look at the time

anonymous_joe

Bloody Nipples wrote: »

The first rule of Prostate Cancer is...

Breast cancer's a political issue more than anything.

Prostate cancer doesn't have the same impact because people aren't in their faces about it.

ronbyrne2005

Mainly affects men 50 and older who are less internet savy and dont talk about problems. Also you used to have to have a doctors finger up your bum to test which was emabrrasing for many.

Khannie

ronbyrne2005 wrote: »

Mainly affects men 50 and older who are less internet savy and dont talk about problems. Also you used to have to have a doctors finger up your bum to test which was emabrrasing for many.

Not true about the finger up bum (although of course it is used a lot). You can (and should) regularly get a PSA blood test once you get past your mid 30's especially if there's a history in your family. My oul' boy died from prostate cancer. Nasty business.

deadhead13

Action Prostate Cancer....

http://www.cancer.ie/prostate/

LegacyUser

Not sure if ye welcome female posters in Gentlemens but anyway..

I think the reason breast cancer gets such big publicity is because women began talking about it. Started groups, called for welfare action and generally made alot of noise because most politicians are male, thy weren't going to think of breast check centres unless someone told them in a big voice that they were needed.

So I guess the same needs to happen for prostate cancer! And its men that need to start talking about it. OP find out what are the symptoms etc. online and tell your friends and family about it. tell them what to look for and to tell all there friends/family the same.

Now you have people taking about it. Men need to start making the same amount of noise for their rights/health and education as women have had to for the last century. It seems no one gets nothing if they dont fight for it these days..

c0mpliant

I used to work in an office for one of the major players in one of the political partys and one day, a man dressed from head to toe in a white (full white suit even white shoes) came in and started calling our candidate (and the political establishment in general) sexist for a huge number of reasons, most of which were bull****, but one of the things he did mention was Prostate Vs Breast cancer.

It made me start thinking about it and I have to say he was right about this part of what he was talking about. There is no ad campaign, there is not same level of discussion by the medical communities, there isn't the level of communication in general about the male cancers. The only thing I can think of is maybe there is a higher level of detection already in Ireland compared to breast cancer. Maybe the over 50's male community regularly has this checked. I'm not sure and I have asked a few people this question, all because a freakishly white (and probably self-centered)man arrived in my office one day!

Supercell

If i was a women having some random-er feel up my boobies and take a scan is not the same as a random-er sticking his finger up my arse and having a grope around.
I have piles and sticking that Preparation h or Anusal tube up there is no fun at all, some dude with a thick finger wiggling around in there just doesnt appeal.

DrIndy

You'll be alright with me - got dainty fingers!

Condo131

I'm a 56 year old Prostate Cancer Survivor.

The person on The Late Late last Friday was RTE newsreader Mike Murphy, who had surgery for Prostate Cancer. He outlined his post surgery compilcations. Unfortunately he also extrapolated his condition to "All men suffer" from the same complications as him afterwards. If you're concerned about that, it isn't necessarily so - I ran a half-Marathon yesterday, 15 months after surgery, in 1:41:42. I certainly wouldn't be doing anything like that if I suffered anything like Mike Murphy.

To those that don't want to know if they have Cancer, or don't want to undergo the tests, I use this analogy: Your medical check-up is like having a smoke alarm. It's an early warning system. If you smell smoke, you can do something about it. You don't smell smoke and go back to sleep, hoping that there isn't a fire. Do yourself a favour, get yourself checked out regularly.

Prostate Cancer Symptoms

The test: The first stop is a simple blood check, called a PSA check (Prostate Specific Antigen). Your GP will do it. The PSA check is recommended for any man aged 50 or over (in the US, they are now recommending 40 and over). If a sibling or other close relation has had PCa, then dedult 5 years from those ages). If your PSA level isn't elevated, you probably won't have to have any further testing done, except regular PSA checks

The PSA check is just like your standard blood check - no more than that. If If the PSA is elevated, then a DRE (digital rectal examination) may be recommended. This is done with a lubricated gloved finger. It's not exactly what I'd like to have every day, but it's little more uncomfortable than having the dentist probe around your mouth and it takes a lot less time. It's a necessary evil with the territory

By the way, your initial PSA result gives you a baseline - worth doing for that alone. The vast majority of men will register pretty close to zero.

If your PSA and DRE warrant further investigation, you'll probably be sent for a TRUS biopsy (Trans Rectal Ultrasound needle Biopsy), in which a number of samples are taken from your prostate. You'll be knocked out for this.

If you are in the significant minority who are diagnosed, there are many options ranging from Active Surveillance to surgery, including radiation, HIFU (High Frequency Ultrasound) and Brachytherapy (radioactive pellets), and other viariants.

One key thing that many forget, is that a significant number of Prostate Cancers are indolent, i.e. they will never cause a problem during the lifetime of the individual. On the other hand some can be very aggressive – mine was, going from borderline normal PSA to “possibly inoperable” (words of my second-opinion consultant) in 18 months.

With any of the treatments, there are downsides and some men have, like Mike Murphy, more severe complications than others. On the other hand, I appear to be at the other extreme. IMHO, the key thing, if you’re in a situation that requires treatment, is to get the best surgeon/oncologist/whatever that you can get. From what I’ve seen and heard, that is possibly the most critical aspect of your decision.

The other prime piece of advice I’d give anyone facing ANY form of major surgery is get fit and lose weight. It’ll stand to you in a HUGE way.

I was, I the words of my surgeon, “a lucky, lucky man”. Do yourself a favour, check it out.

Finally, if you are a Cancer Survivor and runner/cyclist/sportsperson, you might be interested in getting involved with ‘C Team – Cancer Survivors’, in future events. If you are interested, please PM me.

Khannie

Eugen concerns wrote: »

Not sure if ye welcome female posters in Gentlemens but anyway..

We do indeed. Certainly with posts like that. I think you're right about men not talking about it, but the reality is that it doesn't affect younger (more vocal) men. Not too many men walking around in their 50's and 60's willing to shout about prostate cancer. Also, it's not as agressive as breast cancer generally.

Supercell: As I said, you can get a blood test for PSA (I think that stands for prostate specific antigen or something like that, but I'm working off memory).

I certainly wouldn't want anyone poking around up there but the difference between catching it early and catching it late in treatment options is fuppin' huge. Catching it early means you can have the cancer just lopped off in a large number of cases. Catching it late .... well.... let's just say that having your balls cut off is actually a treatment option.

edit: Great post condo. I just saw it after I'd posted mine. Fair play to ye.

cabinpac

Hello, I am 53 & have never had any health issues in my life, as advised by many, including the media, I have had a blood test each July for the last 3 years, I now have an appointment with the GP for next Thursday as my PSA is raised! I would advise all males to get this blood test because early detection is to your own advantage. Anyone who puts this off on the basis of a possible "DRE (digital rectal examination)" and the perceived embarrassment should consider the extra difficulties that late detection will cause. Hopefully I am one of the early birds! I will post again after Thursday.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Condo131 wrote: »

I'm a 56 year old Prostate Cancer Survivor.

The person on The Late Late last Friday was RTE newsreader Mike Murphy, who had surgery for Prostate Cancer. He outlined his post surgery compilcations. Unfortunately he also extrapolated his condition to "All men suffer" from the same complications as him afterwards. If you're concerned about that, it isn't necessarily so - I ran a half-Marathon yesterday, 15 months after surgery, in 1:41:42. I certainly wouldn't be doing anything like that if I suffered anything like Mike Murphy.

To those that don't want to know if they have Cancer, or don't want to undergo the tests, I use this analogy: Your medical check-up is like having a smoke alarm. It's an early warning system. If you smell smoke, you can do something about it. You don't smell smoke and go back to sleep, hoping that there isn't a fire. Do yourself a favour, get yourself checked out regularly.

Prostate Cancer Symptoms

The test: The first stop is a simple blood check, called a PSA check (Prostate Specific Antigen). Your GP will do it. The PSA check is recommended for any man aged 50 or over (in the US, they are now recommending 40 and over). If a sibling or other close relation has had PCa, then dedult 5 years from those ages). If your PSA level isn't elevated, you probably won't have to have any further testing done, except regular PSA checks

The PSA check is just like your standard blood check - no more than that. If If the PSA is elevated, then a DRE (digital rectal examination) may be recommended. This is done with a lubricated gloved finger. It's not exactly what I'd like to have every day, but it's little more uncomfortable than having the dentist probe around your mouth and it takes a lot less time. It's a necessary evil with the territory

By the way, your initial PSA result gives you a baseline - worth doing for that alone. The vast majority of men will register pretty close to zero.

If your PSA and DRE warrant further investigation, you'll probably be sent for a TRUS biopsy (Trans Rectal Ultrasound needle Biopsy), in which a number of samples are taken from your prostate. You'll be knocked out for this.

If you are in the significant minority who are diagnosed, there are many options ranging from Active Surveillance to surgery, including radiation, HIFU (High Frequency Ultrasound) and Brachytherapy (radioactive pellets), and other viariants.

One key thing that many forget, is that a significant number of Prostate Cancers are indolent, i.e. they will never cause a problem during the lifetime of the individual. On the other hand some can be very aggressive – mine was, going from borderline normal PSA to “possibly inoperable” (words of my second-opinion consultant) in 18 months.

With any of the treatments, there are downsides and some men have, like Mike Murphy, more severe complications than others. On the other hand, I appear to be at the other extreme. IMHO, the key thing, if you’re in a situation that requires treatment, is to get the best surgeon/oncologist/whatever that you can get. From what I’ve seen and heard, that is possibly the most critical aspect of your decision.

The other prime piece of advice I’d give anyone facing ANY form of major surgery is get fit and lose weight. It’ll stand to you in a HUGE way.

I was, I the words of my surgeon, “a lucky, lucky man”. Do yourself a favour, check it out.

Finally, if you are a Cancer Survivor and runner/cyclist/sportsperson, you might be interested in getting involved with ‘C Team – Cancer Survivors’, in future events. If you are interested, please PM me.

Nice post and I'm glad you're ok but I think you and others have missed my point. It's not about why men aren't going to their doctor and saying "check me for XYZ". Are doctors offering the exams and tests ? Say you go to yr doc with a flu, does he/she then offer you the PSA test or try and engage with you about your health ?

That's the thing, there's no drive there, no impetus there to highlight this and try and help people out. In the UK every woman over 20 gets a letter of appointment every three years to have a smear test done. That along with all the press breast cancer gets keeps women's health in the spotlight. Over here you hear the old stories that men don't talk about their health. Yeah? well there's also damn all effort from the state and health departments to change that!!


And what the hell is this shite (pardon the pun) about not wanting a doctor doing a rectal exam ? Get it together ffs!! I wonder how many men actually know what the prostate does.

(sorry for the slight rant)

Phototoxin

well 1 you cannot see your prostate

2 men dont like the doctor apparantly

3 men are hard and dont need do doctor fhag poking thier bum

4 we care about breast cancer as WE MUST PROTECT OUR WIMMENZ!

5 see 3

Condo131

Alan Rouge wrote: »

That's the thing, there's no drive there, no impetus there to highlight this and try and help people out. In the UK every woman over 20 gets a letter of appointment every three years to have a smear test done. That along with all the press breast cancer gets keeps women's health in the spotlight. Over here you hear the old stories that men don't talk about their health. Yeah? well there's also damn all effort from the state and health departments to change that!!

I’ll try to keep this brief, but it is really a HUGE, complex question, and I’m really going to skirt around it, address the question of screening......... and, in reality, not answer the question of why so little press coverage (but we still do what we can to highlight PCa).

The prostate gland is well hidden inside the body and is also located in an awkward location – like having an IKEA store in the middle of a sprawling housing estate – what were God’s designers thinking about when they came up with this little piece of the male body??? Because of it’s location and size (about the size of a walnut), it is relatively difficult to test. The two main tests used are the PSA test and the DRE. Neither is definitive of having advanced cancer. If these suggest that further investigation is necessary then a biopsy is likely to be performed.

If Cancer is found on biopsy, it will be staged, using what is called a Gleason Score – two sets of numbers, between 1 and 5, and will be reported as, for example 3+2 or 4+3. The higher the number, especially the first of the two, the more aggressive the Cancer. I was 4+4. If the Gleason Score is 7 or more, it is regarded as advanced Cancer. A Gleason Score of 6 or less is not regarded as advanced Cancer and therein lies the crux of the question of whether to screen or not.

Modern PCa screening is really less than 20 years old, so it doesn’t have the track record like other forms do, hence the stats are still being developed. There is plenty of evidence on both sides of the screening argument but the prime argument against screening is that very many Prostate Cancers are indolent, under Gleason 7, and by diagnosing PCa, you are leading to unnecessary treatments and therefore doing harm to a significant number of patients. (Michael Murphy detailed his ongoing side-effects on the Late Late).

The anti-screening argument was put forward by Dr. Muiris Houston in the Irish Times Health Supplement on April 28th, while a reader took him to task in the Health Supplement of May 12th.

The key task for screening is to find those patients with aggressive Cancers, whose Cancers will cause their deaths during their normal lifetime. The vast majority of men diagnosed with PCa will die from something else altogether and screening may result in unnecessary hardship for them. The average age of PCa diagnosis is 69.

On the other hand, I know quite a few men in their late 40’s and early to mid-50’s who have advanced PCa. Most of them were lucky and were successfully treated. For some of these, diagnosis came too late. In my own case, I had no symptoms whatsoever and a routine PSA check was slightly elevated. Had the doctor not suggested a test that day, I would now, just over three years later, be terminally ill. (Surgeon reckoned that I’d survive for about 11 years or so – given my general health and fitness, I can now reasonably expect to survive for another 30 years!)

I firmly believe that screening must be introduced so that cases like those of me and my colleagues can be diagnosed in time. Life is precious!

Edit - PS: There is an article on Michael Murphy in today's Irish Times

Star Lord

Well one of the biggest Prostate Cancer awareness drives kicked off today, with registrations opening again for Movember!

If any of you guys wish to take part, or simply to donate, there are links in my sig

Will

Yeah join team Moards guys

Red Sleeping Beauty

Phototoxin wrote: »

well 1 you cannot see your prostate

2 men dont like the doctor apparantly

3 men are hard and dont need do doctor fhag poking thier bum

4 we care about breast cancer as WE MUST PROTECT OUR WIMMENZ!

5 see 3

They won't be so hard when they're riddled with cancer and lose control of their bodily functions.

DamoElDiablo wrote: »

Well one of the biggest Prostate Cancer awareness drives kicked off today, with registrations opening again for Movember!

If any of you guys wish to take part, or simply to donate, there are links in my sig

Just saw that. It's something I suppose. Best of luck with it

I remember last year seeing some of the "comedy" people on RTE 2 with the most atrocious looking fly catchers. I'm rubbish at raising money.

milod

Phototoxin wrote: »

well 1 you cannot see your prostate

2 men dont like the doctor apparantly

3 men are hard and dont need do doctor fhag poking thier bum

4 we care about breast cancer as WE MUST PROTECT OUR WIMMENZ!

5 see 3

1. But you can feel it if you try ;-)
2. I don't like the Supermarket but I still go shopping
3. Open your mind to the idea of a cheeky finger - it's not gay, I swear...
4. Yeah, true, missing breasts are more noticeable than a missing prostate
5. OK, I don't want a cheeky finger from my GP

Seriously though, last year, at the age of 43, and having told my GP about my father's prostate cancer, he was still reluctant to do a basic blood test. I've changed GP since then...

Remember guys, the basic checkup is a simple blood test. The finger up your bum thing is one of a few additional diagnostic procedures that happen further down the line - at which point you'll be glad you had the blood test and only too happy to take any treatment on offer.

Dr Galen

lets put this finger in the bum thing to bed.

1) it's uncomfortable but shouldn't be sore
2) those who carry out this test don't like doing it almost as much as you won't like having it done
3) lots of lube is used, so generally speaking there isn't much force involved at all. it just slides up
4) it takes about 30 seconds
5) it's not gay
6) medical people have seen it ALL before, so no freaking out about whats up there or what might get on the finger. we don't even notice.
7) and most important : it could save your life

Red Sleeping Beauty

milod wrote: »

1. But you can feel it if you try ;-)
2. I don't like the Supermarket but I still go shopping
3. Open your mind to the idea of a cheeky finger - it's not gay, I swear...
4. Yeah, true, missing breasts are more noticeable than a missing prostate
5. OK, I don't want a cheeky finger from my GP

Seriously though, last year, at the age of 43, and having told my GP about my father's prostate cancer, he was still reluctant to do a basic blood test. I've changed GP since then...

Remember guys, the basic checkup is a simple blood test. The finger up your bum thing is one of a few additional diagnostic procedures that happen further down the line - at which point you'll be glad you had the blood test and only too happy to take any treatment on offer.

Reluctant to do the blood test ? Feck sake, that doctor needs reporting. You hear stories about these rogue doctors that hiss and spew at women looking for the contraceptive pill and things like this. While I don't doubt that they're in a minority they really shouldn't be treating people if they're not willing to fulfill their duties.

Mystik Monkey wrote: »

5) it's not gay

Neeeh look at yis all yis are all gay!!! getting bummed in the doctors @>!>>%^% yis are all gay getting it in the bum :p:p:eek::eek:


hah. No seriously, Monkey is right. Doctors and nurses alike have seen everything before and are well trained to see that your cock is a penis, your arsehole is the rectum and your male g-spot is the prostate.