November is male cancer awareness month, particularly prostate cancer, which is the most common in men. A simple blood test is enough to detect it, followed by a biopsy to confirm or refute the prognosis… Immersion in the skin of a patient.
A 69-year-old patient had an appointment at the Paofai clinic on Friday November 8 for a biopsy. His recent blood test worried doctors: his level of PSA, prostate specific antigen (a protein produced by the prostate normally present in low quantities in the blood) was abnormally high.
You just need to go to your doctor once a year, but you have to think about it and do it from the age of 50 to take this blood test called the PSA. If the PSA increases, this is often a strong warning sign of possible prostate cancer.
Doctor Gonzague Desrez, urologist.
Today’s operation will confirm or deny the presence of prostate cancer. “There they take a tissue sample from the prostate to analyze and evaluate the problem.” confides the sixty-year-old, somewhat anxious as the procedure approaches. “I hope it will go well” he puts things into perspective.
At the Paofai polyclinic, more than a hundred biopsies are carried out each year. 90% of them clearly reveal the presence of a tumor.
To date, there is no way to prevent prostate cancer. But it is curable if you catch it in time. Daniel, 72, is proof of this. Operated last May, he is now in great shape. As soon as the diagnosis was made, the septuagenarian was quickly taken care of by doctor Desrez.
Today, the consequences are very minimal, those that we experience after cancer: urinary problems, classic erection problems which gradually fade away.
Daniel Ignace, 72-year-old operated patient
In Polynesia, screening remains too rare. “More and more people are getting tested, but not enough. It is still common for patients to arrive with cancer diagnoses that are too late because they did not have the screening and everyone, everyone, everyone regrets not having done it before!” insists the doctor.
Prostate cancer is the most common in men in Polynesia (31% of patients). Doctors recommend screening every year from the age of 50. Early diagnosis increases the chances of recovery. Those who have predispositions in their family must be even more vigilant.
