Private MD News

Groups call for more prostate cancer awareness campaigns

Category: Prostate

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, however, some groups are taking advantage of the opportunity to raise awareness of another condition that kills nearly as many men as breast cancer kills women.

Despite the prevalence of prostate cancer, relatively few men seek PSA testing. Some experts say that this is largely due to a lack of awareness campaigns designed to alert men to the dangers of not getting tested.

Neil Shore, a South Carolina-based urologist, told Carolina Live that women are generally more involved in their healthcare and men are more likely to avoid going to the doctor.

"They just don't maybe feel comfortable with it," he told the news source. "They lack information. They don't want to be bothered by going to the doctor. Women are just great advocates for each other and for themselves."

However, he and other professionals are calling for greater awareness among men about the importance of PSA testing. The National Cancer Institute says that the procedure is one of the most accurate measures of prostate health, and could help identify early-stage tumors.