A Prostate Cancer Screening With Bill Ritter
June 15, — -- I inherited several things from my father, like his ability to work hard and to fall asleep in less than a minute, and his unforgiving fondness for food.
I also may have inherited something else from him: a genetic predisposition for prostate cancer.
Dad died nearly eight years ago at 81 years old. Like a majority of older men, he had prostate cancer.
So, I get screened every year. More than 230,000 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, but early detection exponentially increases the chances of survival.
To emphasize the importance of getting annual tests, I shared my experience this year with "Good Morning America."
It took us longer to set up the camera equipment and the lights inside the exam room than it took for Dr. Isamettin Aral of Staten Island University Hospital to give me my exam.
Two things are included in the screening. First, there's a blood test to measure the levels of PSA, which stands for prostate-specific antigen, a protein produced by the cells of the prostate gland.
A high PSA level could be a sign of prostate cancer and means that the doctor will need to investigate further.
The second part of the screening is the digital rectal exam. A lot of guys are nervous about it, but they shouldn't be. I wanted to show "GMA" viewers how fast it could be done. It is over faster than you can say "digital rectal exam."
I asked Aral why so many men were still cautious, nervous or hesitant to get these tests.
"I think there is a lot of uncomfortableness maybe with what the results themselves will bring," Aral said. "But more important, men are somewhat humbled when it comes to the second part of this exam, the digital rectal exam."
"But what's important for them to understand, by doing both blood tests and the simple process of physical examination, is we can prevent, we can diagnose, we can catch at a very early stage an important form of cancer," Aral said.
Aral recommends screening for all men older than 50 -- and that includes asymptomatic men who don't have any problems emptying their bladders.
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