It is a cancer that affects only men — and in a way so personal that those who receive a diagnosis are all-too-often stigmatized into silence.
It is prostate cancer.
Yet according to the American Cancer Society, in 2018 there will be about 164,690 new cases of prostate cancer in the U.S., and it will take the lives of approximately 29,430 men.
But there is a movement to create Generation ZERO – the first generation of men free from prostate cancer. That movement begins with the men brave enough to ignore the stigma, and break the silence by telling their personal stories of early detection and treatment for prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer can be a serious disease, but most men diagnosed with it do not die from it. In fact, more than 2.9 million men in the United States who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer are still alive today.
Early detection is a key factor. The main screening method is a simple blood test known as the prostate-specific antigen, or PSA. When this should occur is based on any number of factors. Whether to have the PSA screening is something a man needs to talk with his primary care physician about at his annual physical.
African American men are disproportionally affected by prostate cancer, which runs in the family of former Hartford Deputy Police Chief Neville Brooks. Brooks (see video below) was diagnosed with the disease at age 49. His father and 3 uncles died as a result of the disease.
“An individualized approach of the appropriateness of PSA-based screening is necessary,” says Dr. Joseph Wagner of the Hartford HealthCare Tallwood Urology and Kidney Institute. “This approach should consider individual factors, particularly family history and ethnicity.”
The Generation ZERO movement doesn’t end with men educating other men. It includes fundraising for research in the fight against prostate cancer through a series of ZERO Prostate Walk/Run (even Snooze) events held around the nation each year.
Join us in the fight for against prostate cancer at the ZERO Prostate Race at Dunkin’ Donuts Park in Hartford on Saturday, June 30, 2018. For more information on donating, sponsoring, walking, running or even sleeping in support, click here.