Prostate Cancer Awareness Week Sept 15-22

IUSM, Wishard to conduct clinics

By Joe Stuteville

To that end, physicians at the Indiana University School of Medicine will supervise two free or low-cost screening sites for men over the age of 50, and high-risk males over the age of 35 years. The first clinic is from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday, Sept. 16, at the IU Cancer Center Urology Clinic, 535 Barnhill Drive, on the IUPUI campus.

The second clinic is 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 17, at Wishard Memorial Hospital, Room 146, Urology Clinic, 1001 West 10th Street, Indianapolis.

The clinics are part of Prostate Cancer Awareness Week, Sept. 15-22, a nationwide campaign to promote screenings, detection and treatment of the disease. The campaign is part of a program sponsored by the Prostate Cancer Education Council.

“If prostate cancer is caught early, survival rates are 90 percent or higher,” said Dr. Michael Koch, chairman of the IU Department of Urology. “However, there often are no early warning signs or symptoms of the disease and the only way to detect prostate cancer in its early stages is through a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test and a digital rectal exam.”

PSA is a protein produced in the cells in the prostate gland. When the prostate gland enlarges, PSA levels in the blood tend to rise and might indicate cancer or benign conditions.

“Both the PSA test and digital exam are excellent tools that can save lives,” said Koch.

For more information about the clinics at IU and Wishard, contact Janis Aichinger at 317-630 8913; E-mail jaiching@iupui.edu.