Prostate Cancer Awareness Month Spotlight: New services now available in South Florida
September 23, 2022 – Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Game Changer vehicles, which bring health education and free screenings for many cancer types to South Florida communities in need, are for the first time offering prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for prostate cancer.
“When we catch prostate cancer in the early stages, there is a 95% chance that we can cure it. But when you catch prostate cancer when it has spread beyond the prostate, there is only a 25% to 30% chance of survival at five years,” said Brandon Mahal, M.D., assistant professor of radiation oncology at Sylvester. “The PSA is the best screening test that we have in terms of being able to catch cancer early and being able to cure it.”
Black men are at especially high risk for prostate cancer, which makes PSA testing via Sylvester’s mobile units in communities like Little Haiti even more important, according to Dr. Mahal.
The PSA is a simple blood test. Men who get their PSA screenings on the Game Changer will usually have their results within 24 hours. They will not be charged for Game Changer PSA screenings, and those whose results indicate further care will be counseled and referred to locations where they will have access to care, Dr. Mahal said.
