Minority Men Free Prostate Screening April 9, 2007 Local Groups Host Annual Minority Men Free Prostate Cancer Screening Saturday, April 14

The Catawba County Prostate Cancer Task Force, a joint effort of Catawba Valley Medical Center (CVMC), US TOO Support Group and the American Cancer Society, will hold their Fifth Annual Minority Men Free Prostate Cancer Screening on Saturday, April 14 from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon at the Centro Latino. The Centro Latino, former Grandview Middle School, is located one block off Hwy 70W at 737 12th St. SW, Hickory. This event will include both the PSA (prostate specific antigen blood test) and digital rectal exam to screen for prostate cancer for men aged 40 and older. The task force is pleased to partner with Viewmont Family Practice and the Centro Latino for this event. Hispanic interpreter will be available at the event and Hispanic men can register through the Centro Latino at 828-441-2493. All other men should register by calling The Health First Center at 828-485-2300. Although the event is being held at the Centro Latino, all minority men are encouraged to attend. However, all men aged 40 and older are welcome. Peggy Messick, Registered Nurse, Bachelor of Science Nursing, Oncology Certified Nurse, chair of the Catawba County Prostate Cancer Task Force and Cancer Resource Nurse at CVMC said, “Our task force’s goal is to reach out to all men in our community to educate about the importance of early detection. We target minority men because they are less likely to be screened for prostate cancer on a regular basis and because they are more likely to die from prostate cancer than Caucasian males.” The 2006 Public Health Report Card for Catawba County shows that minority men are almost four times more likely to die from prostate cancer as Caucasian men in our county. The age-adjusted death rate for Caucasian men in Catawba County is 24.9 per 100,000 population and 98.6 for the minority population. It was even higher than the state’s death rate for minority men of 67.2. “We know that early detection saves lives,” says Gary Skinner, 15-year prostate cancer survivor and coordinator for the Catawba County Prostate Cancer Task Force. “Men with earliest form (Stage 1) of prostate cancer have virtually a 100% cure rate and even the men with Stage 2 have a 96.8% cure rate. The combination of the rectal exam and PSA blood test is a good screening method for prostate cancer. It is important to do both. My prostate cancer was detected during a rectal exam, but my PSA was still in the normal range.” Unfortunately, these two screening tests will not detect all prostate cancers, but the vast majority can be found with this type of screening. Regular screenings increase the odds of finding the cancer early. “Also, not all abnormal results means that there is cancer presence. The is specific to the prostate, but not to prostate cancer,” explained Messick. “It can be elevated due to strenuous activity, an enlarged prostate gland, inflammation of the prostate and for reasons unknown. This is only a screening test and further testing should be done, if abnormal, to either rule out or confirm the presence of prostate cancer.” For more information about this event or prostate cancer, contact Messick at 828-326-3127.