Chioma Obinna and Doyin Adekunle
4 November 2008
On the premise that an estimated 14 million Nigerian men afflicted with prostate cancer, the most common cause of cancer death in Nigerian men aged 50 and above, the Lagos State Government last week kicked off the 2nd phase of the free prostate cancer awareness and screening programme.
The programme which began November 3 - 7, 2008 is targeting no fewer than 750 men aged 50 and above and will take place in Ikeja, Amuwo-Odofin and Ikorodu Local Government Areas of the State.
State Ccommissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris in a statement noted that the two most common tests for prostate cancer including Digital Rectal Examination (DRE) and Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) measurement would be combined and offered free of charge during the exercise.
Provision has been made for all minor surgeries usually called prostate biopsies that may be needed for those who require it, following the screening exercise.
He noted that during this phase, 408 men were screened out of which 272 men were normal, while 100 were requested to repeat the test after six months and 36 referred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) for review.
Following the review, 16 of the clients were asked to undergo prostate biopsy and eight of them have had the biopsy done. Three were confirmed to have cancer of the prostate."
Idris explained that the lessons learnt from the pilot exercise informed the decision to target the screening of 750 men in the three local government areas with an average of 250 per local government area stressing that by the end of the exercise, four divisions of the state including Ikeja, Ikorodu, Badagry and Lagos Island would have been covered while the only outstanding division, Epe, would also be covered before the end of the year.
"Cancer of the prostate is a common malignant tumour in male and, worldwide, is the second commonest tumour in men after lung cancer. It is apart from being the commonest cancer in Nigerian men, also the most common cause of cancer deaths in Nigerian men above 50 years.
It is seen frequently in the older age group and rarely seen in men below 45 but its rate of occurrence rises steadily in men above 50 years while its rate of occurrence is 75 percent in men who are in their seventh and eight decades of life."
Admitting that the exact cause of prostate cancer is unknown and that it cannot be spread from one person to another, Idris added that research has shown that, as in other cancers, certain risk factors including age, family history, race and diet among others predispose to the development of prostate cancer.
"A man with prostate cancer may not have any symptoms. As a matter of fact, by the time the person with prostate cancer is having complaints, it is often too late.
This is the essence of this screening exercise, to create awareness about the disease and the need for men to get tested regularly to detect the disease early. Thus I urge all men above the age of 50 years to come out and benefit from this prostate cancer awareness and screening exercise."
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