The Samadi Robotics Foundation Combats Prostate Cancer By Hosting A Complimentary PSA Screening Event

Chairman of Urology and Chief of Robotic Surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital, Dr. David Samadi, in collaboration with the Samadi Robotics Foundation will be holding a free PSA screening event, Saturday April 29th from 9-11am at Redeemer Church located on 150 West 83rd Street in New York. The Foundation will pay for the first 200 men that sign up. Men can register by calling Dr. David Samadi’s office at (212)365-5000.

The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be approximately 161,360 new cases of prostate cancer in 2017. About 1 in 7 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime. These numbers are alarming and in spite of the guidelines, Dr. Samadi recommends men get a baseline PSA at the age of 40. Research has shown that men with a family history of prostate cancer are at greater risk of getting the disease and African American men are more likely to have a more aggressive form of prostate cancer.

A PSA screening is a blood test used to detect the presence of prostate specific antigen. This test is used as a diagnostic tool for prostate related disease, most commonly prostate cancer. Other potential causes of elevated PSA values include benign prostatic hypertrophy, infection and urogenital tract instrumentation, however, an elevated PSA alerts the physician to further evaluate the cause.

According to Dr. David Samadi, “Despite the efforts made in regards to early detection for prostate cancer, the disease remains the second leading cancer cause of death in men, taking the lives of approximately 26,730 men this year. Tens of thousands of additional men suffer from the burden of painful metastatic prostate cancer, which can lead to bone fractures, the inability to urinate, spinal cord compression and renal failure. The evidence remains that since PSA screening became widely recognized in the early 1990’s, there has been a 39 percent reduction in prostate cancer mortality rates.”

Prostate cancer does not just affect older men

What many people are unaware of is that prostate cancer does not just affect older men. The number of younger men diagnosed with prostate cancer has increased nearly six-fold in the last 20 years. Today, more than 10% of new prostate cancer diagnoses in the US occur in men younger than 55. What’s more alarming is that for younger men, the disease is often much more aggressive. When prostate cancer affects men in their 60s, 70s and older, it is typically slow-growing. Older men diagnosed with prostate cancer are more likely to die of other causes, but when it strikes a younger man, it is likely they have developed a tumor that is growing quickly and aggressively.

Twenty percent of people are diagnosed with late-stage prostate cancer, which has a 29.3%, 5-year overall survival rate compared to the 98.0%, 5-year overall survival rate for localized prostate cancer. Research promotes the use of screening and aims to find more ways to diagnose prostate cancer at the localized stage and come up with new treatment options for metastatic prostate cancer in effort to increase the quality of life of patients living with prostate cancer.

“The controversy over PSA screening exposes the importance of the need for physicians to put more emphasis on treating their patients as individuals, and not just as a population. Because the PSA test is not always the best measurement for all patients, the decisions made for diagnosing and treating each patient should be based on the individual. Until then, and until we have a better test for the diagnosis of prostate cancer, it is simply too dangerous to tell men to stop having PSA tests,” Dr. Samadi explains. With the appropriate use of PSA screening, especially in high-risk populations, we can reduce prostate cancer related mortalities.

Dr. Samadi says, “I cannot stress enough the importance of being your own advocate. Educate yourself and your loved ones; make health your priority and personal responsibility.”