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15-09-2022

Battling prostate cancer also requires women’s management skills

Iliustracija

The European Association of Urologists has declared 15 September as World Prostate Cancer Awareness Day. This illness is one of the most common male neoplastic diseases in Lithuania. The health insurance funds shared the opinions of a prostate cancer patient (with his permission) and a urologist. The Fund also drew attention of the things to know about prostate cancer and reminded of the ways to prevent it.

Audrius Skačkauskas from Panevėžys heard the news of having an advanced stage of cancer at the age of 50, when his general physician suggested conducting a blood test and check for signs of this disease just in case, based on a preventive programme.

‘I had no symptoms. But, since it was offered, I thought I would just go, no problem. I was sure they wouldn't find anything. But the result was quite a surprise.’ the man says, sharing his experience of when the disease was diagnosed a few years ago.

Having gone through of the usual psychological stages of a cancer patient, he speaks of his disease in public, trying to help the others understand the importance of checking for the disease as early as possible, because it may be successfully cured at the onset or stage I. He believes that the preventive programme should be offered as early as at the age of 40, because the patients keep getting younger: undergoing treatment for the first time, Audrius noticed that the majority of the other patients were older than him. Going for treatment for the second time, he saw that the majority of the faces around were notably younger.

Audrius says that the majority of men are afraid of the preventive prostate cancer check-up, believing that the treatment may leave them incapable or result in urinary incontinence. Otherwise, men are afraid of the outcome of the disease and thus often leave it to fate.

To that, the man simply says that what they really should be afraid is an advanced stage of the disease, which involves both urinary incontinence and sexual dysfunction. You can be afraid of chemotherapy, radiation (although it is not so bad after all) or other treatment. But there’s no point of being afraid of detecting a disease in its early stage. Detecting cancer in its early stage or a precancerous lesion means that the treatment will be simple and the patient will be able to continue to enjoy life. Meanwhile, an advanced stage of the disease brings much more serious problems: the issue of urinary incontinence is usually solved, but sexual dysfunction, which depends on the stage of cancer, may leave no other options than platonic love.

Thus, according to Audrius, men are free to choose, whether they want to overcome their fears and get their check-ups as early as possible, or accept the outcome of being too late. Women can help here too. The man noted that women often manage their men’s health issues, are interested in prostate cancer and find ways to convince them to get checked one way or the other.

Andrius Preidis, urologist and head of the Department of Urology at Panevėžys National Hospital, reassures that preventive check-ups are nothing to worry about too. He says that 50 percent of the cases of stage I or stage II prostate cancer require only 1 treatment session to get well. These days, a cancer diagnosis is not a sentence – as long as it’s detected in early stages.

Likewise, an elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test reading does not necessarily indicate cancer, nor does a normal reading rule out a cancer diagnosis. The physician also brought in some clarity for those, who are worried about the outcome of treatment. Urinary incontinence or erectile dysfunction may be treated with appropriate measures that will help to restore these functions and enable the patient to enjoy a normal life. The majority of the needed measures are reimbursed by the National Health Insurance Fund.

The Head of the Department of Urology noticed that following the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of cases of neglected cancer, when the disease is diagnosed with metastases, has increased. For example, one of the patients recently seen had undergone a biopsy 3 years ago but no cancer was found Visiting after the coronavirus pandemic, the patient found out that the disease had already metastasized. A metastasized disease cannot be treated, but it can be slowed down, providing the patient with quite a few years of quality life.

The physician says that the statistics of treating the disease are quite positive. Approximately 90 per cent of the patients live for five more years. And the treatment includes surgeries, radiation, various hormonal medicine, chemotherapy, radioactive preparations, etc. Since early stages of cancer usually show no symptoms, these cases may be screened out by the preventive programme. That is why Preidis believes that all men over 50 years old should visit their urologist at least once even if their PSA test reading is normal.        

The health insurance funds are kindly reminding that men in Lithuania, aged 50-69 (inclusive) and men over 45 years old, whose fathers or brothers had anterior gland cancer, can take part at the preventive programme for early diagnosis of prostate (anterior gland) cancer. These groups may undergo a PSA blood test every 2 or 5 years. If the PSA index exceeds the norm, a general physician will issue a referral for a consultation with a urologist, who, if needed, will perform a prostate biopsy.

Prostate cancer prevention programme is covered from the compulsory health insurance fund. About 2 million Eur are allocated to the implementation of this programme in Lithuania every year. Unfortunately, the participants of the programme did not constitute even 30 per cent of the target group of men, registered at primary healthcare institutions and the number in 2020-2021 was even below 20 per cent. For example, in 2021, the programme was open for 384 thousand men, but only 72 thousand (19 per cent) actually took part. Last year, biopsy helped to detect adenocarcinoma in 54 per cent of the men.

According to experts, the pandemic had a huge impact on the decrease in the implementation of preventive programmes and the changed pandemic situation now raises concerns that, in some areas, population check-ups are hardly getting back on track, although the numbers should increase. Residents shouldn’t hesitate and register for their check-ups while they're still feeling healthy.

More information on prevention programmes is available here.

The NHIF and Panevėžys territorial health insurance fund

(Pexels photo)

The NHIF invites you:

Your questions are welcome by email[email protected]or phone: local (8 5) 232 2222, international +370 5 232 2222

Last updated: 16-01-2023

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