What to know during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

From woodtv.com

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, shedding light on the steps men can take to educate themselves on health tips, risks and treatment.

Dr. Justin Drobish is a urologist at Corewell Health. He said that many of his patients are proactive and often ask him about medicine or vitamins that can be taken to avoid prostate cancer. 

“Patients are very interested in preventing prostate cancer when they can and they’re always asking what supplements or medication they can take to cut down on their risks,” he said. “Unfortunately, there have not been any medications or supplements or diets that have been shown to decrease that risk of prostate cancer, so there’s not really a good answer I can give them to prevent it.”

Drobish recommended several lifestyle tips that he said can be helpful in the long run.  

“What I will say is obesity and cigarette smoking is associated with a higher grade or more aggressive prostate cancer when it is diagnosed,” he said. “So if patients are looking for interventions, I typically steer them toward avoiding obesity, living an active lifestyle and avoiding cigarette smoking.” 

Drobish said that one screening a year is very helpful and can give doctors plenty of information for the future. 

“For most patients, my patients — I recommend they get screened once a year annually and it’s with a PSA blood test, with their primary care doctor,” he said. “Once a year is easy to recommend for patients, easy to recommend for providers and it gives us a lot of good data.” 

Family history is also something that Drobish said he considers. He recommended a specific age for people to start getting screened. 

“By 50, people really should be getting screened with their doctor,” he said. 

Corewell Health is also in the process of adding a new therapy that has become popularized in treating prostate cancer, according to Drobish.

“One of the therapies we hope to offer soon is called hi-fu, which stands for high intensity, focused ultrasound therapy,” he said. “And this can destroy prostate cancer without removing the prostate itself. It’s been around for a couple years and gaining popularity nationwide and we’re excited to be able to offer this here at Corewell pretty soon.” 

https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/what-to-know-during-prostate-cancer-awareness-month/amp/