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HCC to offer free prostate screenings Oct. 11, 12 by Heather Murphy Public Relations Prostate cancer awareness promoters claim the month of September and urge people around the country to acknowledge the seriousness and prevalence of the sometimes deadly disease. Screenings will be held by appointment from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 11 and 12  at Hollings Cancer Center. Appointments can be made by calling Health Connection at 792-1414. “In South Carolina, prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men and the second leading cause of cancer death, the first being lung cancer,” said Keith Rodgers, Ph.D., of the Environmental Biosciences Program.  South Carolina has the third highest mortality rate attributed to prostate cancer in the United States, according to the South Carolina Central Cancer Registry. MUSC has taken prostate cancer seriously for years now, as evidenced by the 10th annual free prostate cancer screening at Hollings Cancer Center. “The whole idea of sponsoring this annual prostate cancer screening is to help raise awareness and let people know that the disease is curable, especially if treated early,” said Nabil Bissada, M.D.  “Our goal is to identify patients with clinically significant prostate cancer that is curative by therapeutic intervention and have a long life expectancy.” Striking one in five males, prostate cancer has decreased in incidence and mortality since 1993, but the SC Registry states that African American men are more than 70 percent more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than Caucasian men.  “Even though we cannot claim, yet, that screenings result in decreased mortality, it has certainly resulted in fewer patients with advanced disease and has allowed for early intervention,” said Thomas Keane, M.D., urology chairman. The importance of raised awareness and prevention of prostate cancer is obvious, and with it comes diversifying methods of treatment.  Radical prostatectomy involves the removal of the prostate and nearby lymph nodes through the abdomen. Men may opt for the nerve sparing surgery if the cancer isn’t too close to the nerves or too large.  A second type of surgery is radical perineal prostatectomy, involving the removal of the prostate through an incision between the scrotum and anus. Two types of radiation therapy are used, external and internal.  A third treatment is cryosurgery, or freezing the prostate to kill the cancer. Another treatment used alone or in addition to radiation therapy is hormone therapy, which blocks cancer cells from receiving the hormones they need to grow. The effects of each treatment are varied, so a man diagnosed with prostate cancer should speak at length with his physician about the results, risks and then choose the best treatment.  According to Bissada, there are several investigative treatments in the works, including growth factor inhibitors, apoptosis stimulators, angiogenesis inhibitors, gene therapy, and cancer vaccines. In connection with the screenings, Rodgers and David Hoel, Ph.D., will conduct an approved study using screening participants.  The screening is a 15-minute exam consisting of a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test and a digital rectal exam (DRE). During the DRE, the urologist evaluates the prostate gland by touch.  The PSA measures a protein made by prostate cells and the higher the PSA level the more likely the presence of cancer. “Participants who go through this process will be asked questions through surveys that investigate diet and insulin, like growth factors (IGF) in healthy men, to see if differences may be associated with race, “ Hoel said. “We want to look at their screening data in connection with their demographics, family history, diet and IGF.”   Cancer's never real until it comes home by Heather Murphy Public Relations I’ll never forget that phone call.  Dad had always been screened regularly.  He’d gone in for his checkup when his primary physician noticed that his PSA level, which was normally a little higher than average, was even higher.  He was so matter of fact about it, so calm, and so… unaffected. “I’ve got prostate cancer. On a PSA scale of 1 to 12, I’m a six. We’re going to look at the options and beat this thing,” my dad said. It didn’t sink in for me at the moment either. I cried a little bit, but it was easy to calm down. “Of course daddy, you’ll kick its butt,” I said. A barrage of tests later, Dad decided on nerve sparing radical prostaectomy surgery.  He was to have his prostate removed by a doctor who had trained under Patrick Walsh, M.D., at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.  Apparently Walsh had studied thousands of hours of  “nerve-sparing” surgery videos and had been able to take the potency rate from 50 percent to 85 percent and the incontinence rate from 10 percent to 2 percent at Johns Hopkins. I figured it was smooth sailing from here on out. So a few months pass and Dad, 55, went in for his surgery. That day was probably the most taxing and exhausting day of my life. I’ve never been more scared for someone. His doctor explained the procedure and what would happen afterward.  Tick tock tick tock tick tock.  Dad was in surgery for a little more than three hours, and everything went well except that they had to remove one of his nerve bundles near the prostate, thus cutting his potency chances in half. While the main concern is obviously staying cancer free and healthy, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of an effect it must have on a man when he may be impotent or incontinent. Our world is so charged with images of masculinity and pride, prostate cancer unmercifully delivers a swift blow to both. Not to say that you have to have those things to be a man, but I can imagine why it would be frustrating to lose them.  I had to remember the two reasons that my dad’s life was saved.  First, early detection, because if he’d foregone regular checkups, this slow growing cancer could have killed him.  My dad may not be completely home-free yet, but through a better diet, continued regular check-ups and interval pathology reports, hopefully he can move closer to a cancer-free life. Second, prostate cancer research has come so far and accounts for revolutionary treatments in the past 10 years. It used to be a certainty that when you had prostate surgery, you became incontinent and impotent, now, that’s not always the case. New and improved treatments stand armed and ready to go into battle. As an employee of an institution dedicated to cutting edge research, patient care and education, I’m extremely excited about the building of the new addition onto HCC that will include a prostate cancer facility. My dad was released from the hospital Sept. 21, only three days after his surgery. With the first hump behind us, I feel like we can all really begin to heal.  Even though I didn’t get sick, I feel like a part of me felt his pain through my fear, apprehension, and distress. Now, I feel his hope, his resilience and his confidence as he continues to grow stronger on his roller coaster ride through recovery.  Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.