Stand Up To Cancer

Breast cancer is both the most infamous and the most famous cancer in the US. Sounds contradictory until you think about it - breast cancer gets the most press and the most attention, despite being statistically comparable to prostate cancer, its fraternal twin. Approximately 250,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, while approximately 200,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to American Cancer Society stats. Around 40,000 women will die of breast cancer; around 30,000 men will die of prostate cancer. Both are leading causes of cancer deaths in this country. But only one has become a household word. Why?

My guess is that it has to do with differences between the genders. While both breast and prostate cancer affect people's very intimate personal regions, women in our society don't tend to be ashamed of talking about their bodies, especially when their health is at stake. Just last week I sat in the middle of the crowded SU2C office talking to a coworker about our gynecologists. We didn't think twice about comparing notes on everything from office d�cor to Pap smear technique. But I've never once overheard two men comparing their doctors' rectal exam methods in public, and I'd be surprised to hear it's a commonplace practice in private.

I know that as a woman it's easy for me to generalize, but I'm not the only one who's noticed that men are a little hesitant to even talk about prostate exams, much less get them. This 1999 Senate testimony from Bob Dole speaks to the same point:

People ask me how I can be so open about my own experience with prostate cancer. I must admit, when I first started speaking out about this disease there were plenty awkward moments. But, then I decided that the alternative -- silence -- can be deadly. So, when I am fortunate enough to be asked to testify before Congress on this issue, I do it.

After finally beating prostate cancer in 2003, Minister Louis Farrakhan issued a similar call to arms. In his announcement of the Louis Farrakhan Prostate Cancer Foundation he tailored his message specifically to black men, who are statistically more likely both to develop and to die from the disease:

"I realized that this disease was killing black men at terrific rates, and that as men, we are difficult in terms of allowing ourselves to be tested. But, my dear brothers, let me encourage you. In fact, I'm going to spend the rest of my days encouraging men in general, and black men in particular: don't wait."

And singer Harry Belafonte came right out and addressed the two is of prostate cancer that most men don't even want to think about, much less talk about - impotence and incontinence.

Yes, he had surgery to remove it. Yes, he had problems with incontinence "but, because I was tenacious about doing the [curative] exercises, after one year it no longer existed," he said. And yes, he and his wife still enjoy a level of physical affection that "unifies our lives" . . . Men were just too "macho," he said. "The prostate is something that attacks that central part of the male body that men are very preoccupied with. Somehow, any disorder there means your life is over, you can't be a man anymore, you are now something less."

All three prostate cancer survivors made the same point: that a little squeamishness over the affected area is no reason to risk losing your life to cancer - especially to a cancer that is nearly 100% preventable if caught early enough.

--Cat Vasco

***************************************

Are you a prostate cancer survivor? Connect with others over in the SU2C Forums!