Timely diagnosis ‘can prevent prostate cancer risk’

The risk of prostate cancer is relatively low in the UAE as compared to other countries as it affects approximately one in eight men globally.

Men of African descent are more likely to receive a diagnosis of prostate cancer with one in six men being diagnosed with the disease.

New cases rose from 1.4 million cases globally in 2020 to 2.9 million by 2040. Late diagnosis is widespread globally, especially in low- to middle-income countries, where comorbidities such as diabetes and heart diseases are also on the rise.

This was stated by Dr Charles Ryan, Genitourinary Medical Oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City in an email interview with Gulf Today.

He recently visited UAE to attend a global conference. Dr Ryan has extensive research background, particularly in understanding how hormones drive resistance to treatment besides practicing and doing research for over 25 years and now work with new companies to develop novel treatments for prostate cancer and help bring them to the clinic.

He also recently launched a podcast called “The Good News About Cancer,” which highlights progress being made in cancer research and treatment.

It is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and other platforms. Highlighting the regional ratio, he said “Broadening to the Middle East, in 2020 there were approximately 52,000 new prostate cancer cases in the Middle East, which represents about 4% of global cases.

Interestingly, in the Middle East the incident ratio is lower than it is in Europe and North America however, the region has a higher mortality to incidence ratio. In other words, as in many parts of the world, men of a lower socioeconomic status are more likely to experience lethal prostate cancer than men with a higher socioeconomic status.” Underlining the major symptoms, he pointed that “The vast majority of men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer do not have symptoms of the disease when they are diagnosed. Occasionally patients will have urinary symptoms, such as frequent urination or changes in the number of times they need to urinate at night.

There can occasionally be blood in the semen or urine, but such symptoms are rare and may indicate other conditions, such as infections. The most common risk factors for prostate cancer include advancing age, a family history of the disease, and certain ancestral backgrounds,” he added.

About the preventive measures to avoid getting prostate cancer, he said “We have tried many ways to prevent prostate cancer over the years with various hormonal manipulations and other drugs, which have not shown consistent benefits and have shown some risks. Therefore, we do not recommend pharmacologic intervention to prevent prostate cancer.”