What do you want to know about prostate cancer? This week, Joe and Terry Graedon welcome your questions about the latest screening tools and treatments for prostate cancer. Almost 300,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year, but stigma keeps many from discussing it. As a result, they may not learn about the latest treatments, which can be very effective. Our expert guests will tell you about new approaches. You can also share your experience at 888-472-3366 between 7 and 8 am EDT. You could listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on April 22, 2023. What You Need to Know About Prostate Cancer: The statistics are grim enough. According to the American Cancer Society, roughly 300,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year. More than 35,000 Americans are expected to die as a result of this common cancer, which is expected to affect 1 man out of 8 over the course of a lifetime. Most men who develop prostate cancer do not die from it. Beyond the statistics are the stories. In December 2023, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was hospitalized due to complications from a prostatectomy. (That indicates surgical removal of the prostate gland to treat prostate cancer.) Many people were upset that Secretary Austin did not tell his subordinates he would be going in for surgery. Was that because there is a stigma attached to prostate cancer? Does the United States need a champion to disclose his diagnosis and treatment to remove the stigma? Former First Lady Betty Ford did that for breast cancer. Secretary Austin is not the only high-profile individual to suffer from prostate cancer (and possibly its stigma) recently. Former director of the National Institutes of Health Dr. Francis Collins is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. His physicians had been doing regular testing on a prostate cancer they had first detected five years ago. In the most recent test, the cancer that had seemed non-threatening and slow-growing had suddenly become quite aggressive. Dr. Collins will undergo prostatectomy himself while participating in a clinical trial of post-surgery treatment at NIH.  He points out that the MRI and PET imaging that revealed the change in his prostate cancer are not available to every man. How Do Doctors Detect Prostate Cancer? The prostate is a small gland that produces seminal fluid to help carry sperm. Because it is tucked away inside the body, you can’t see it and it is difficult to feel it except with a rectal exam. For screening purposes, doctors usually recommend tracking prostate specific antigen (PSA). Even a healthy prostate gland produces low levels of this compound. However, when prostate cells start to grow quickly due to a cancer, PSA levels may increase quite markedly. Recommendations on who should have PSA levels measured and when have varied widely in recent years. Our guests will describe why. Any man with troublesome symptoms such as difficulty urinating, painful urination, or blood in urine or semen should undergo screening. But experts do not always agree on the best screening protocol for men with no symptoms. African American men and those with a family history of prostate cancer are at higher risk and will probably benefit from starting screening at an earlier age. If the PSA st