This year, the American Cancer Society projects that more than 300,000 men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. You may think you’re not at risk, but you are: All men are at risk.
Prostate cancer screening identifies prostate cancer at its earliest stages, when it’s still curable. So, if you’re looking for a no-brainer investment in your health, this simple test is more than a good bet.
As part of Men’s Health Month in June, our expert urologist, Alex Lesani, MD, encourages you to get your first or next prostate cancer screening. We conduct prostate tests in the privacy and comfort of our Las Vegas, Nevada, office.
Why does prostate cancer screening have such an impressive ROI? The following are the top reasons.
If you want high stakes, you have them: Prostate cancer — undetected or detected too late — can kill you. In fact, only lung cancer kills more men than prostate cancer does.
Next time you’re in a crowd of men, look around. About one out of every 44 will die from prostate cancer. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
More than 3.3 million men alive in the United States today survived prostate cancer. Those are good odds.
There are two more good pieces of news about the bad news of prostate cancer. One is that it’s a slow-growing cancer. The second is that if Dr. Lesani catches it before it’s spread, he may be able to cure it.
Because it’s slow growing, if you have an early prostate cancer, Dr. Lesani may simply advise monitoring the tumor — a watch-and-wait approach. If Dr. Lesani determines that you need a more aggressive approach, he may recommend several treatments, including:
If your cancer’s caught at a later stage and has spread to the bones, you may need other medications and treatments, too.
The greatest argument in favor of prostate screening is that it’s a simple test. It doesn’t take long to schedule. It doesn’t take long to get. It’s virtually pain-free, too.
A prostate screening is composed of two parts: A blood test and a digital rectal exam (DRE). During the DRE, your provider probes your anus and palpates your prostate with a gloved finger.
The blood test is just like any other blood test. We take a small amount of blood from your arm. The lab then tests it for the presence of prostate-specific antigen (PSA).
Elevated PSA levels don’t necessarily mean that you have cancer. You might have another condition, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). If your levels are high, we may do another test.
You should get your first prostate cancer screening by age 50, as long as you’re at average risk for the disease. If you have a family history of prostate cancer or other reproductive cancers, if you’re African-American, or have other high-risk factors, you may need to start at age 45.
Invest in your health and possibly even save your life by scheduling your prostate cancer screening today. Just call us at 702-470-2579 or choose your own date by booking your appointment online.
