10,000 people seek advice from charity on prostate cancer in three years

ABOUT 10,000 people sought information and advice on prostate health from the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) in the past three years, with men making more than 80% of the enquiries.

The figures illustrate more than ever that men in Ireland are taking action when it comes to their health, the ICS said yesterday.

There were 2,536 new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed in 2007, according to latest data from the National Cancer Registry of Ireland (NCRI).

The NCRI estimates that the incidence of prostate cancer will almost treble by 2020 when an estimated 3,768 new cases will be diagnosed.

Action Prostate Cancer, an ICS initiative, celebrated its third anniversary with soccer analyst and commentator John Giles kicking off its Prostate Cancer Awareness Week.

The key objective of the awareness week is to encourage men approaching 50 years and onwards to be more prostate aware, to openly discuss their risk of developing the cancer with their GP and to consider the merits of screening.

During the week people wanting more advice and information on prostate cancer will also be encouraged to ring the society’s Prostate Cancer Information Service at 1800 380 380.

Meanwhile, a new interactive patient information CD to meet the needs of the estimated 1,800 Irish people diagnosed with lung cancer annually was launched yesterday at the Royal College of Surgeons.

The CD was developed by the Irish Lung Cancer Nurses Group (ILCNG) and supported by an educational grant from Roche Products.

ILCNG chairwoman, Rita Luddy, said being diagnosed with lung cancer was a frightening experience for patients and the more information that patients had access to following their diagnosis, the better prepared they were.

“It is important that patients have access to information, not just in hospital but in their own home, which is why we felt it was important to develop this CD as a resource for all lung cancer patients,” she said.