Show 1493: How Doctors Are Changing the Odds Against Breast & Prostate Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women, while prostate cancer is the most common for men. In 2022, the CDC found that approximately 255,000 men got a prostate cancer diagnosis. The same year, doctors diagnosed nearly 280,000 women with breast cancer. Breast & prostate cancer affect different patient populations and different parts of the body. Nonetheless, doctors have found common themes in diagnosing and treating these malignancies. We’ll learn how they are changing the odds.

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Changing the Odds Against Breast & Prostate Cancer

Over the course of a lifetime, one in eight American women will get a breast cancer diagnosis. The odds for prostate cancer in men are similar. So are the chances of dying from these conditions: one in 43 women die of breast cancer. One in 44 men die of prostate cancer. How are oncologists changing the odds to improve survival from breast & prostate cancer?

Better Screening

The first step in controlling a condition is diagnosis. Screening techniques for breast & prostate cancer differ because breasts are easier to image. That’s why doctors prescribe mammograms to detect early signs of breast cancer.

Screening for prostate cancer starts with a blood test for prostate-specific antigen (PSA). Although it is imperfect, middle-aged men should find it a fairly easy first step. If the PSA turns up something alarming, doctors will probably proceed to order imaging, in this case an MRI of the prostate. An MRI reveals prostate tumors with greater accuracy than the old-fashioned unguided prostate