This Tuesday, the 13th, the Oncology Urology Outpatient Clinic is promoting a day of actions on Blue November - a campaign to raise awareness of male diseases, in order to prevent and diagnose prostate cancer. The program will feature a team of HC professionals to guide patients and their companions on the importance of preventive exams and prostate cancer, which kills a man every 38 minutes in the country according to the National Cancer Institute (Inca) . Guidance to the public will take place at the outpatient clinic. Uro-Oncology, from 14 pm to 17 pm, on the 3rd floor. The campaign has been taking place at HC since the launch of the movement in Brazil, in 2014. Since then, HC campaigns have registered an average of 400 attendances during the event. Currently, the Uro-prostate outpatient clinic serves around 50 patients per week.
For Professor Ubirajara Ferreira, responsible for the campaign, the main way to fight cancer is to discover the disease early. Early diagnosis - digital rectal examination or PSA tests - increases the chances of a cure by 90%. Despite this, it is still difficult to confront the illness. "Today, prostate cancer is the second most common among men in Brazil, second only to non-melanoma skin tumors, and even in the absence of symptoms, men over the age of 45 with risk factors should see a urologist" , reinforces Ferreira.
In the opinion of the coordinator of Clinical Studies of Oncological Urology, Nádia Cássia, men must break the prejudice regarding diagnostic methods. “Deaths generally happen due to a lack of prevention. Men avoid taking tests due to machismo, but the diagnosis must be made as soon as possible, because the chance of a cure is much greater.”
According to INCA, the estimate for 2018 of new cases of prostate cancer is 68.220 cases. Early diagnosis is important as it is the only way to guarantee a cure, which is why men over the age of 40 should consult a urologist for a digital rectal examination, in which the doctor evaluates changes in the gland, and a PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) blood.
In Brazil, the incidence rate is the highest in developed countries. The increase in incidence rates in Brazil can be justified by the evolution of exams, the improvement of information systems and the increase in life expectancy.
Around 20% of prostate cancer patients are diagnosed solely by changes in rectal examination. Other tests may be requested if prostate cancer is suspected, such as biopsies, which remove fragments of the prostate for analysis, guided by transrectal ultrasound.
"The indication of the best form of treatment will depend on several aspects, such as current health status, stage of the disease and life expectancy. In cases of low-aggressive tumors, there is the option of active surveillance, in which the condition is periodically monitored. disease progression, intervening if it progresses", explains Ubirajara.
authorship
