Announcer: Dr. Judd Moul is joining us, professor and chief, Division of Urologic Surgery, here at Duke. And this is my age group, in the forties. Let’s talk about the prostate screening and just how important it is.
Moul: Critically important that men at 40 should have a baseline prostate-specific antigen blood test along with a digital rectal exam.
We now know, based on current guidelines, that if we do a baseline testing or screening at age 40, we can have a much greater impact on picking up prostate cancer early when it’s most curable, and men can have treatments without the side effects that used to be associated with this condition.
Announcer: All men certainly at the age 40, but African American males, there’s even a higher risk.
Moul: We want to encourage all men to think about prostate cancer screening, but African American men are at greater risk for prostate cancer.
They’re at greater risk for developing the disease at a younger age, yet if we get that baseline test at 40 then we can do a better job of risk-assessing everybody for their future risk of prostate cancer.
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Published: Aug. 19, 2009
Updated: Aug. 19, 2009
URL: http://www.dukehealth.org/HealthLibrary/HealthArticles/duke_medical_minute_judd_moul