America's Prostate Cancer Organizations release shared perspective on screening and treatment

America's Prostate Cancer Organizations today released the full text of written testimony to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The Committee will be holding a hearing on "Prostate Cancer:  New Questions About Screening and Treatment" on March 4, 2010.

"Eleven different US-based, patient-focused,  prostate cancer education and advocacy organizations came together to offer Congressman Ed Towns and the committee our shared perspective on the critical priorities that will change the impact of prostate cancer on the lives of Americans and their families," stated Scott Williams of the Men's Health Network on behalf of  America's Prostate Cancer Organizations.

"This shared perspective, provided on behalf of millions of American men and their families, clearly shows the importance of reform to address these issues," commented Thomas Farrington of the Prostate Health Education Network.

• Prostate cancer is a complex and problematic disease that affects not only the male patient but also his wife or partner and other family members over many years.
• The early detection and appropriate treatment of clinically significant and potentially lethal prostate cancer remains a critical priority, especially among men at high risk because of family history, ethnicity, or other factors that define such risk.
• Until more accurate tests are available, all health care insurance plans should include coverage of regular testing for prostate cancer (including the prostate-specific antigen or PSA test and the digital rectal examination or DRE) -- and its subsequent diagnosis.
• Additional funding is urgently needed to support research into better ways to identify and discriminate between very low risk ("indolent") and higher risk (clinically significant and potentially lethal) forms of prostate cancer at the time of diagnosis and into better forms of management for patients with or at risk for potentially lethal disease.
  • Most specifically, we support a significant increase in funding for the Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP) of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) at the Department of Defense, which has been funded at $80 million each year since 2001.
• We continue to support the need for an Office of Men's Health (comparable to the highly successful Office of Woman's Health) within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) that can represent the specific health interests of the male population of America.

The full text of the testimony is available at http://www.menshealthnetwork.org/library/PCagroupshearingstatement030410.pdf and on the web sites of many other members of America's Prostate Cancer Organizations.