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Home News Free prostate screenings during National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

Free prostate screenings during National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

Published: Thursday, August 27, 2009

In conjunction with National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, The University of Tennessee Medical Center is holding a series of free prostate cancer screenings during the month of September.

“One in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in his life,” said Dr. John L. Bell, surgical oncologist and director of the Cancer Institute at UT Medical Center. “Prostate cancer is expected to claim the lives of more than 27,000 American men this year. But we know that early detection is key to survival. In fact, 9 out of 10 men diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer who receive and follow proper treatment can go on to live a healthy life.”

Dr. Bell urges men to get their recommended prostate screenings.

The free screenings offered by UT Medical Center include the following.

• Sept. 2, 4 – 6 p.m. at UT Family Physicians, Sevierville, 657 Middle Creek Road in Sevierville
• Sept. 9, 1 – 3 p.m. at UT Internal Medicine, LaFollette, 109 Independence Lane, Suite 200, in LaFollette
• Sept. 12, 8 – 11 a.m. at UT Internal Medicine, Hardin Valley, 2587 Willow Point Way (one mile East of Pellissippi Parkway on Hardin Valley Road) in Knox County
• Sept. 16, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the UT Medical Center Cancer Institute, in Building D at the main campus of UT Medical Center on Alcoa Highway in Knoxville
• Sept. 17, 2 – 5 p.m. at UT Surgical Associates, Morristown, 1633 W. Morris Blvd. # B in Morristown
• Sept. 17, 1 – 3 p.m. at Scott County Hospital, 18797 Alberta St. in Oneida

 

The screenings include a digital rectal exam and a blood test, called Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). Appointments are necessary for the free screenings. To reserve your appointment, call the UT Medical Center Cancer Institute at 865.305.6055.

The American Cancer Society recommends annual prostate cancer screenings for men age 50 and older. For black men or those with a family history of prostate cancer, the annual screenings should begin at age 45.

More than 192,000 new cases of prostate cancer are expected to be diagnosed this year in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. Aside from skin cancers, prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer in men. Additionally, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men.