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KUALA LUMPUR: The Universiti Malaya Urological Cancer Trust Fund is set to launch a national campaign against prostate cancer next month.
The campaign will be led by Datuk Prof Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman and his new board member, Datuk Seri Nazir Razak.
The #onlymencan campaign will be a recurring event taking place annually in November, Men’s Health Awareness Month, from 2020 to 2024.
Dr Adeeba, who believes that a close partnership between physicians and cancer survivors will have a powerful impact in the fight against prostate cancer, said: “Awareness is the first step to early detection and improvement of cancer outcomes. prostate cancer in Malaysia “.
Nazir, a prostate cancer survivor, echoed the sentiment: “Many more men die or suffer terribly because they don’t detect prostate cancer early enough. And the keys to early detection are awareness and good medical advice; so those are the priorities of our campaign this year. “
According to the National Cancer Registry of Malaysia, more than 60% of prostate cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage (stages three and four).
As such, the campaign aims to reduce the number of newly diagnosed advanced prostate cancer from more than 60% to 30% by 2025.
To achieve the goal, the campaign is taking a multi-pronged approach. The 2020 edition of the campaign, for example, will kick off a month-long #onlymencan campaign to raise public awareness of prostate cancer.
The key messages of the campaign will be disseminated through announcements, interviews and key opinion leaders.
During the campaign, there will also be programs to improve knowledge about prostate cancer for doctors.
Under these programs, primary care physicians from both the public and private sectors will attend online training courses to learn the latest updates on prostate cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment in order to provide the best possible possible care for patients.
An exclusive #onlymencan website containing health education resources for the public, patients and healthcare professionals will be created as a unique virtual resource center for prostate cancer in Malaysia.
The key is to normalize the discussion about prostate cancer and prostate cancer and not encourage fear, so that men at risk can take control.
Prostate cancer is among the top 10 cancers in Malaysia with a large percentage (60%) of cases diagnosed in the advanced stage (stages three and four), where the cancer has spread to other parts of the body outside the region of the prostate.
By contrast, comparable statistics are much lower in Singapore (25-30%) and the United States (less than 20%).
There are about 117 urologists in the country, which is equivalent to 0.005 urologists per 1,000 inhabitants, which is low compared to 0.02 in Singapore and 0.04 in the United States.
In the United States, where testing is most widespread, one in nine men is diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime.
That said, it is fortunately one of the most treatable forms of cancer because if caught early, there is a survival rate of more than 90% for at least 10 years.
When it comes to prostate cancer, risk factors include age, family history, and genetics, as well as race.
Men over the age of 50 have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer, while those with fathers or siblings with prostate cancer face twice the risk compared to other men.
In Malaysia, Chinese men have a higher risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Although patients may be asymptomatic, common symptoms of prostate cancer are difficulty urinating, frequent urination at night, painful urination, blood in the urine or semen, as well as bone pain in metastatic patients.
The prostate specific antigen (PSA) test can detect high levels of PSA that may indicate the presence of prostate cancer.
But many other conditions, such as an enlarged or inflamed prostate, can also increase PSA levels. So determining what a high PSA score means can be tricky.
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