CANCER ACS: Prostate exams are crucial for early detection

June is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR HEALTH WRITER
CANFIELD -- "Lean over the table. Bend your knees a little. You'll feel a little pressure," the doctor says.
"Aaarrrgggh!"
The dreaded "finger wave," more formally known as a prostate digital rectal exam, is a fact of life during the annual physical check-up for every man at some point in his life.
But, the indignity of it all is preferable to undetected prostate cancer, which is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men, after lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
June is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. In Ohio, men and their loved ones should understand that more than 8,100 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in Ohio this year, and 1,300 will die from the disease.
Early detection
The good news, said Al Stabilito, communications and advocacy director for the Mahoning Valley Office of the ACS, is that 99 percent of men diagnosed will live five years or longer if the cancer is found in the local state.
Stabilito said the key to survival is early detection, which is the goal of the digital exam and of annual prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood testing.
George Wagner of Canfield, a four-year prostate cancer survivor, credits his survival to early detection.
"Pay attention to your body and educate yourself on treatment options," he said.
Since being diagnosed, Wagner said a positive part of his life is his involvement in the Man to Man prostate cancer support group, which ACS offers in conjunction with area hospitals.
He also is a member of Navigators, a cancer support group, in which he helps men who have been recently diagnosed with prostate cancer.