DENVER (KDVR) — Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among U.S. men, behind only lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
An estimated 300,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer each year.
September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and one survivor is doing just that.
Doctors, like Dr. Benjamin Lowentritt, are really focusing on a particular type of prostate cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. It is called metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer — a type of hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. It occurs in 15% of cases.
It’s similar to the type of cancer former President Biden was diagnosed with.
Survivor Story
When Bob Lane learned he had prostate cancer in 2014 at 59 years old, he broke down. Then, a second diagnosis years later gave him a new mission.
He says for men, talking about it is half the battle.
“I know that’s the case. I don’t feel like it might be the case. Men don’t talk about prostate cancer. It’s not like breast cancer for women. It’s a taboo subject for a lot of men. So, the men I try to convince to get tested, I will occasionally pull out the ‘if you ignore your health, it will go away’ line. That does seem to get some men to the to the screening table,” said Lane, a two-time prostate cancer survivor.
Now he’s known as “elevator Bob,” he spends two days a week at his doctor’s office, greeting patients as they step off the elevator, listening to their fears, and sharing advice from his own experience.
He says the time he spends talking to those newly diagnosed gives him a purpose, and some of those interactions can be emotional.
“The general feedback is a hug, or if we’re not huggers, a handshake and an emotional bank that is thankful for me, that they are feeling much better now in the last 10 minutes than they did for the last several hours. They feel like there is hope and that there is an opportunity to take some control of it if they learn enough about it and get the right support team around them,” Lane said. “It makes me feel like I’m making a difference and I’m helping people. That’s a good feeling to help people.”
New treatments
Advances in early detection and treatment have improved survival rates, so men getting checked is crucial.
Doctors say a new type of treatment helps patients go about their lives without the side effects of radiation or chemotherapy. ERLEADA (apalutamide) is a type of hormone therapy that blocks testosterone, which fuels the growth of prostate cancer cells.
“So, while there are effects to manipulating the testosterone, they are not life-limiting. They’re not, you know, incapacitating, you can go about your normal life. You’re not at risk from people around you, or really at risk to people around you. So it’s a very tolerable treatment in most people. But you want to understand what those risks are going into it, because every treatment does have potential side effects, but these treatments are generally very well tolerated,” said Lowentritt.
This diagnosis, if caught early, can be survivable. So Lane encourages men to get checked.
Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.
