Cancer society urges prostate screenings for men

Staff report

CANFIELD

September is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and the American Cancer Society encourages men to discuss the benefits and risks of prostate-cancer screening with their doctors.

Excluding skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men in the United States and the second-most common cause of cancer death among men.

Early prostate cancer usually causes no symptoms and is most often found by a prostate specific antigen, or PSA, blood test and/or a digital rectal exam.

The cancer society recommends that men without symptoms who have at least a 10-year life expectancy discuss with their health-care provider whether to be screened for prostate cancer. Men at average risk should receive this information beginning at age 50.

Men at higher risk, including African-American men and men with a father or brother diagnosed with prostate cancer before age 65, should receive this information beginning at age 45. Men at appreciably higher risk — multiple family members diagnosed with prostate cancer before age 65 — should receive this information beginning at age 40.

To learn more about prostate cancer, call the American Cancer Society toll-free at 800-227-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.