MEN are still SECOND CLASS CITIZENS when it comes to CANCER and it's COSTING LIVES.

by

Professor Roger Kirby

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Daily Mail-GoodHealth -

VIEWPOINT

[Tuesday, December 11,2007]

LAST WEEK, the GOVERNMENT ruled out a national prostrate cancer screening programme , arguing the existing test is not accurate enough to justify mass checks. This has angered Professor Roger Kirby, chairman of the

CHARITY

Prostrate UK

and one of the country's leading experts on the disease, who accuses ministers of turning their backs on men's health...

Every year in Britain, 10,000 men die of prostrate cancer. that's equivalent of a JUMBO JET

crashing every

TEN DAYS.

Imagine the outcry if that was happening - and the haste with which the

GOVERNMENT

would announce initiatives to stop the

DEATH TOLL.

Contrast this with what happened last week, when ministers announced they were abandoning plans for a

NATIONWIDE SCREENING PROGRAMME

for

PROSTRATE CANCER.

Frankly, I am alarmed and disappointed that this crucial area of men's health once again seems to have disappeared off the government radar.

I look with envy at my colleagues working in the field of breast cancer. prostrate cancer specialists can only dream of the same level of resources in

RESEARCH and TESTING.

Let me state at the outset that I agree that the current test - the Prostrate Specific Antigen (PSA) test -is far from perfect.

FIRST, it can sometimes give the wrong result. Some men with 'normal' PSA readings can turn out to have cancer.

In addition, many men who have raised levels of PSA and consequently suffer anxiety of thinking they may have cancer, turn out to have another benign prostrate disease that is treatable and not life-threatening.

The test is also poor at identifying whether a man has a slow-growing, non-threatening tumour, or a more aggressive one that is potentially fatal. In other words, it cannot tell the pussy cats from the tigers.

BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT IS NO USE AT ALL

On the contrary, I know from experience with my own patients that the

PSA test

CAN SAVE LIVES.

But to be really effective, it has to be used in the

RIGHT WAY.

The PSA value on its own doesn't give you the

WHOLE PICTURE.

The key factor is not the reading itself, but the degree of the change since the LAST TEST.

and this is where it comes into its own.

If a patient came to me and had a 'healthy' PSA value, I would call him back a year later for another test. That might seem a long time, but even aggressive prostrate cancer develops relatively slowly.

IF his reading had INCREASED it would raise the ALARM.

As there is increasing evidence that prostrate cancer -like heart disease is linked to

DIET and LIFESTYLE

I think that monitoring PSA levels should be given the same priority by men as having their cholesterol and blood pressure checked.

That's why I believe every man over 50 should be requesting an annual PSA check from his GP, so that any changes can be tracked closely.

And if he has a close relative with prostrate cancer, he should be tested from the age of 40. I have one at the same time as my other annual health checks. the trouble is that the

GOVERNMENT

decision to abandon plans for a nationwide screening programme for prostrate cancer will be misinterpreted by men.

It will give the perfect excuse to bury their heads in the sand. And, as a result, more men will die unnecessarily.

GP's are supposed to advise patients on the pros and cons of the

PSA TEST

before agreeing to do it. But much of the literature they get from Government is

NEGATIVE about its USE

and discourages them from testing men.

Many GPs won't even agree to a PSA test unless a man has other symptoms of prostrate cancer, either benign or cancerous, such as urgent of difficulty starting and stopping urine flow.

Its not the cost of the test - less than £10 a time -that has prompted the Government to scrape its screening plans. It's the cost of performing biopsies on thousands of men, and training surgeons to use modern, minimally invasive techniques, such as robotic surgery.

What we are left with is this prevailing negativity about prostrate cancer. it was the same with breast cancer screening until women's lobby groups pushed hard for it to be introduced.

British men I'm afraid, just don't have the same attitude to their health.

In America, it's a different picture. Around

70%

of men know their PSA levels because they are encouraged to have regular checks.

When I get a taxi in America and tell the driver what I do for a living, the first thing he will tell me is his

PSA score

Contrast this with Britain, where only

3%

know their levels.

Interestingly, prostrate cancer deaths in America are falling. here in Britain the death rate has hardly changed in the past 20 years.

THE PSA TEST IS NOT PERFECT

But for the time being, it's the best option we have - and its disgraceful that it's not being offered NATIONWIDE.

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[We have included this information on our web-site at this time as it is at Christmas particularly that the 10,000 men who have died during the year from an almost preventable disease will be missed by their families and friends.

In one of the richest countries in the world we find yet again that the New Labour Government has plenty of money to give to itself and its growing bureaucracy nationwide. Billions to be wasted on FIVE WARS and extravagant and unnecessary invasive projects that it's attitude is as usual unsympathetic to loss of life whether it is in our hospitals where at least 90.000 died from mistakes last year or the continuing death toll of our brave soldiers -undersupplied in arms equipment and lacking suitable air cover and their dependents back home in shanty -town splendor to support Blair's and

NEW LABOUR'S FIVE WARS.

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[Font Altered-Bolding & Underlining Used -Comments in Brackets]

* For more information on prostrate cancer, go to

www.prostrateuk.org

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THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN-IS THE EU COMMISSION LISTENING? * Ditch the EU TREATY after IRISH REJECTION SAY VOTERS by Daniel Martin Political Reporter [Daily Mail-Wednesday, June 18,2008] MORE THAN HALF of voters believe Britain should drop the controversial European Treaty in the wake of its rejection in last week's IRISH REFERENDUM' The poll comes as the Tories launch a last-ditch bid in the HOUSE of LORDS today to delay the RATIFICATION OF THE TREATY. And 10,000 people have signed a PETITION on the DOWNING STREET- WEBSITE within the past few days JUNE16-2008 , calling on the GOVERNMENT NOT TO RATIFY THE BILL [WHY DON'T YOU?]   Downing Street website is http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Abandon-Lisbon/ * JUNE 18-2008

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