Jonathan Henry of Hampden is vice president of enrollment management and marketing at the University of Maine at Augusta. He is co-facilitator of the Men’s Cancer Network.
We are immersed in a culture of cancer awareness — the ubiquitous pink ribbons, pink clothing, merchandise and even license plates promoting breast cancer awareness. But what about the blue ribbon, the color of prostate cancer? It’s time to bolster our support for men and their partners who experience prostate cancer, and this is our month.
Some facts that may be surprising:
Prostate cancer is the second leading cancer cause of death in men, behind lung cancer. One in 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime, with an average age of 66 at diagnosis. It disproportionately impacts older men and black men. One in 41 men will die from prostate cancer. The five-year survival rate for localized or regional cancer is 100 percent, but only 31 percent for distant or metastatic disease. There is still controversy over the testing and surveillance for prostate cancer.
Many men have heard the words from friends or family, that “prostate cancer is a good one to get,” because the survival rate is so high. But would any of us wish that we had a “good cancer” lurking in our body? Cancer is cancer, and we still know far less about prostate cancer than we do about breast cancer.
The blue-ribbon community needs to catch up with, and learn from, the pink-ribbon community. We need more research to understand the variations of this disease and develop targeted treatments.
Some have argued that prostate cancer is a lower threat, and therefore does not need to be screened for until age 50. But a shift to delayed screening a decade ago has led to more men being diagnosed with advanced cancer. Thankfully, primary providers — and men themselves — are now talking more about getting tested, via the routine prostate specific antigen (PSA) marker found in blood and the digital rectal examination. The results of both can lead to a biopsy, the definitive means to locate prostate cancer and form a treatment plan.
Prostate cancer is not over-detected, as some have suggested. But it can be over-treated. And therein lies the balance. Which prostate cancers are indolent? Which are aggressive? Do you seek treatment right away, or do you have time to wait, a process called active surveillance?
I know that my survivorship story is the exception not the rule, and it propels me to advocate for awareness and support in our region. I was diagnosed at age 44 in 2007 and had a robotic-assisted prostatectomy here in Bangor. I went nearly 10 years before the cancer returned, and was treated locally with 39 days of radiation and hormone deprivation therapy. But the radiation failed. My cancer, albeit too small yet to be seen on a PET scan, is still somewhere in my body. So I am onto round three, facing systemic treatment decisions within the year.
For me — and many dozens of men in our region — prostate cancer has certainly not been a good one!
It’s a myth that men don’t talk about medical issues. We do, especially in supportive, trusting groups. I’ve witnessed it in the Caring Connections Men’s Cancer Network meetings held at the Bangor Region YMCA, a collaboration with Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center. Two great organizations partnering to support cancer patients and promote health, healing, hope and thriving.
Let’s continue to work together as a community, and give prostate cancer the attention that it deserves. Men’s lives are depending on it.