Urologist wants more attention on prostate cancer

As September - which is recognised as Prostate Cancer Awareness Month - ended on Monday, urologist Dr Elon Thompson is calling for heightened awareness, because it is crucial in the fight against the deadly disease.

"We need more attention and we need to have transformational change when we look at how we approach prostate cancer," he told THE STAR. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men, impacting one in nine over their lifetime. In Jamaica, it is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men. Alarmingly, despite its prevalence and severity, the issue often receives relatively little attention.

"When we look at societal norms, what tends to get attention is pregnant mothers, children, and no one is saying that they don't require attention. But I think what should be the narrative is that there are many things that require equal attention, like men who don't know that they should be screened at age 40," Thompson said, adding that efforts to educate the public about prostate cancer should extend beyond just men.

"We have to place some emphasis on how we educate our children. So young girls and young boys, they equally need to know about PSA (prostate specific antigen) when men reach to 40. So that, when young girls grow up and they get older, they can encourage the men to do prostate cancer screening," he said.

"Men can, in turn, when they are young boys, know about Pap smears for cervical cancer, and they can know about vaccines that exist for cervical cancer. The whole point is about having some kind of awareness among the younger population about these conditions that could affect them in later life," Thompson added.

He told THE STAR that another challenge in raising awareness about prostate cancer is that many men feel ashamed to discuss their struggles.

"There are a lot of men out there who have had success stories in their treatment for prostate cancer and who have had struggles with their treatment. What I find is that not many men are coming forward and having the discussion to encourage other men, that it is not so bad and that they are survivors," Thompson said.

"The two tests that we use for screening is a PSA blood test and we do the prostate examination. That is examining your prostate via the rectum. Now, if it is that you are so scared of that test I think that the narrative should shift to doing at least one of those tests," Thompson said.