Prostate Cancer Awareness Month A Great Opportunity To Promote All Treatment Options
Prostate Cancer Awareness Month is a great opportunity to help educate men with the disease learn more about potential treatment options – including radiation therapy.
That is the view of Targeting Cancer Clinical Lead A/Prof Sandra Turner, who says it is vitally important men diagnosed with prostate cancer are aware they have a choice about potential treatment options.
“It is still not routine that men with prostate cancer who need to have active treatment are seeing a radiation oncologist as well as a surgeon before deciding on the type of treatment that suits them,” A/Prof Turner said. “Men need to see a radiation oncologist as well as a surgeon so they can make an informed decision about what is the right treatment option for them.
“Modern radiation therapy is poorly understood as a curative cancer treatment, yet it has many advantages over more invasive treatments.
“For many men, radiation therapy offers a convenient and often less costly alternative to surgery. In many cases, it has no or limited side effects for patients and allows them to get on with their lives, including working while they receive treatment.
“Men have the right to be aware of all possible treatment options in detail and this can only be achieved by talking to the different specialists, including talking with a radiation oncologist in the case of radiation therapy.”
About 18,000 men in Australia are expected to be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2018, with about 3000 cases anticipated in New Zealand.
A recent study showed that greater utilisation of radiation therapy could help save hundreds of lives each year in NSW alone.
Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, which runs throughout September in Australia, is recognised across the world and aims to help people discover more about the disease as well as raise much-needed funds for further research.
“Targeting Cancer believes Prostate Cancer Awareness Month is an important way to help raise awareness of prostate cancer, who needs active treatment and how it can be managed,” A/Prof Turner said.
Targeting Cancer has a wealth of information on prostate cancer, including symptoms and treatments. Click here for more information.
Earlier this year the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists’ Faculty of Radiation Oncology, which runs the Targeting Cancer campaign, published its position statement outlining the importance of men with prostate cancer discussing treatment options with a surgeon and a radiation oncologist as part of patient-centred decision making.
Click here to read the statement.
For more information on Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, click here.
