Men's Health Screenings
- Comedian and TV personality Steve Harvey is celebrating his 66th birthday — and with another trip around the sun for Harvey and all men comes another reminder to make sure you’ve gotten all of your annual health screenings.
- Men around Harvey’s age should be getting annual prostate cancer screenings, colon cancer screenings and, if you are a current or former smoker, lung cancer screenings.
- Preventative health is crucial for getting ahead of a potential diagnosis, and SurvivorNet wants to make sure you are prioritizing your health and communicating with your care team about your risk factors.
Men around Harvey’s age should be getting annual prostate cancer screenings, colon cancer screenings and, if you are a current or former smoker, lung cancer screenings.
Honored to be a part of a brotherhood where we look out for each other. Wishing my bruhs, my accountability partners, a life of health and wellness! #OmegaPsiPhi pic.twitter.com/WIVcphyAtS
Read More— Steve Harvey (@IAmSteveHarvey) January 8, 2024 Preventative health is crucial for getting ahead of a potential diagnosis. SurvivorNet — and Steve Harvey as a growing voice in the health advocacy space — want to make sure you are prioritizing your health and communicating with your care team.Getting Screened for Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. It starts in the walnut-shaped prostate gland between the rectum and bladder, producing the fluid that nourishes sperm. Fortunately, most prostate cancer is caught with screening examinations.
A prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test is one of the most commonly used screening tools for prostate cancer. It is also used for tracking the disease following diagnosis and during treatment. To perform the test, your doctor will take a blood sample just like any other routine blood test.
What Happens if My PSA Test is Elevated?
Screening guidelines for prostate cancer depend on your risk for the disease. Age, race/ethnicity, geography, family history and gene changes are the main risk factors for prostate cancer. You should talk with your doctor regardless, but here are some things to consider when gauging your risk for the disease:
- Men younger than 40 are less likely to get prostate cancer, but age-related risk quickly rises after age 50. Approximately six of ten cases of prostate cancer are found in men older than 65.
- Prostate cancer develops more often in African-American men and in Caribbean men of African ancestry than in men of other races, and these men tend to develop the disease at a younger age.
- Prostate cancer is most common in North America, northwestern Europe, Australia and on Caribbean islands. It is less common in Asia, Africa, Central America and South America. The reasons for this risk factor are unclear, but more intensive screening and lifestyle differences like diet might be contributing factors.
- Most prostate cancers occur in men without a family history of the disease, but it’s still important to look at your family history because prostate cancer does seem to run in some families. Having a father or brother with prostate cancer, for instance, more than doubles a man’s risk of developing the disease with a higher risk for men with a brother with prostate cancer than those with a father who have it. The risk is also especially high if a man has several affected relatives that developed the cancer at a younger age.
- Inherited gene changes, or mutations, like that of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes can also elevate risk, but this probably accounts for a small percentage of overall cases.
It’s not clear if the benefits of prostate cancer screening outweigh the risks for most men. Nevertheless, screening can be life-saving, and it’s important to at least discuss the pros and cons of screening and your risk factors for the disease with your doctor.
RELATED: Check Out SurvivorNet’s Digital Guide to Prostate Cancer
There is not typically one clear-cut sign that suggests prostate cancer.
“Prostate cancer is a very odd disease in that it doesn’t have a particular symptom,” Dr. Edwin Posadas, Director of Translational Oncology and the Medical Director of the Urologic Oncology Program at Cedars-Sinai, told SurvivorNet in an earlier interview.
There’s No One Definitive Symptom for Prostate Cancer, But There Are Clues
Yet there can be changes surrounding urinary function that might be a clue. Are you urinating too much or too little or are waking up at night to go more than usual? These signs could potentially be cancer, but they also could be a urinary tract infection or even an enlargement of the prostate gland (which is not cancer).
“Looking at your urinary health, your sexual health — and if you’re noticing things are different, bring it to your doc,” Dr. Posadas said. “Mention it as part of your annual physical to make sure that at least he’s thinking about whether or not you’re at risk for prostate cancer.”
Dr. James Brooks, Chief Urologic Oncology Stanford Medicine, says current guidelines recommend prostate cancer screening begin at “age 55 and continue screening through age 70.”
However, men who are at higher risk of prostate cancer, such as having close family members diagnosed with the disease, should consider screening earlier. “At least, at age 40, but probably even by age 35, they should have an initial PSA,” Dr. David Wise, a medical oncologist at NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center, told SurvivorNet.
Prostate Cancer Symptoms
Prostate cancer does not always behave the same in every man it impacts. The cancer can be considered “low risk” and can be slow-growing, and treatment might not be necessary. In other men, the cancer may grow faster or more aggressively, requiring more immediate treatment. Because of this, there is some debate about screening.
Symptoms of prostate cancer may include:
- Urinating more often
- Waking up in the middle of the night to pee
- Blood in your urine
- Trouble getting an erection
- Pain or burning when you urinate
- Pain in your back, hips, thighs, or other bones
- Unexplained weight loss
- Fatigue
Getting Screened for Colon Cancer
It is important to get screened for colon cancer even if you have no family history. Experts recommend that people of average risk for colorectal cancer start regular screening at age 45, and sometimes earlier if you do have family history.
Symptoms of colon cancer, according to the American Cancer Society:
- A change in bowel habits, such as diarrhea, constipation, or narrowing of the stool, that lasts for more than a few days
- A feeling that you need to have a bowel movement that is not relieved by having one
- Rectal bleeding with bright red blood
- Blood in the stool, which might make it look dark brown or black
- Cramping or abdominal pain
- Weakness and fatigue
- Losing weight without trying
Dr. Heather Yeo, a colorectal surgeon at Weill-Cornell Medical Center, discussed the top two myths associated with colon cancer and getting checked, and sets the facts straight with SurvivorNet.
Myth #1: Colonoscopies are the only way to detect colon cancer.
The verdict: Not true.
Though colonoscopies are the best way, there are a lot of other methods like fecal occult blood tests (which look at a sample of your stool) and fecal immunochemical tests (FIT). “The [tests] have different roles and you should talk to a medical provider about what’s best for you, but there are a lot of options,” Dr. Yeo said.
Myth #2: Only people with a family history can get colon cancer.
The verdict: Not true.
“In fact, the majority of people who get colon cancer have no family history,” Dr. Yeo explained. “The reason I do the specialty is because if we screen patients early, cancers can be prevented. We can have really good survival outcomes and so I tell that to a lot of my patients. It’s important to have a positive outlook for that.”
Getting Screened for Lung Cancer
Lung cancer usually affects people above the age of 65, but a small number of people are diagnosed younger than 45 years old.
Many lung cancers are found accidentally, but screenings can help doctors diagnose lung cancers at earlier stages of the disease when successful treatment is more likely. Early-stage lung cancers that are removed with surgery may even be curable. But more often than not, lung cancer diagnoses come after the disease has already spread to other parts of the body making it more difficult to treat.
“In about 70 to 80 percent of patients who are diagnosed with lung cancer, unfortunately the cancer has spread outside of the lung and is not suitable for surgery,” Dr. Patrick Forde, a thoracic oncologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine, shared with SurvivorNet.
But screening methods such as the low-dose computed tomography (CT) scan can save lives if those who are at risk participate. This test uses a very small amount of radiation to create highly detailed pictures of your lungs to reveal cancer long before initial symptoms.
Former & Current Heavy Smokers Should Get Lung Cancer Screenings Using CT Scan, Says Leading Expert
The State of Lung Cancer 2020 report from the American Lung Association found that screening every currently eligible person would save close to 48,000 lives, but only about 6 percent of Americans who are at high risk are actually getting screened.
“The concern is perhaps patients who are on Medicaid or don’t have insurance will not be referred for appropriate screening,” Dr. Forde said. “I think it behooves us all to try and increase the uptake of CT screening in particular, given that it’s been shown to reduce lung cancer mortality.”
RELATED: Does Smoking Marijuana Cause Lung Cancer?
In March 2021, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPST) introduced new guidelines which dropped the age of eligibility for lung cancer screening and the number of “pack years,” or number of years a person smoked an average of one pack of cigarettes a day.
The new guidelines specify that adults ages 50 to 80 who have a 20 pack-year smoking history and currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years should be screened. So if someone smoked one pack of cigarettes per day for 20 years, their “pack history” would be 20 years, and they should be screened. But if someone smoked two packs a day for 10 years, they would also have a 20 year “pack history.”
The USPSTF says that expanding screening eligibility will be “especially helpful” to Black people and women and will increase screening access. Data shows that both groups tend to smoke fewer cigarettes than white men. Data also shows that Black people have a higher risk of lung cancer than white people.
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