SNCH poll: Men lag behind women in cancer screenings

“We don’t talk about our men,” said Hewlett House Executive Director and five-time breast cancer survivor Geri Barish, of the disparity in awareness between breast and prostate cancers.

Her observation, made at South Nassau Communities Hospital on Oct. 24, appeared to be confirmed by the results of the medical center’s latest Truth in Medicine poll, which revealed that area men are less likely than women to seek out potentially life-saving cancer screenings.

The poll, which queried 600 residents across Long Island and in New York City, found that 74 percent of women age 40 and older reported having a mammogram screening for breast cancer during the last year. Conversely, 53 percent of men age 40 and older reported being tested for prostate cancer, and 55 percent of the men polled said they understood the standard guidelines for prostate screening.

The group of medical experts arrayed to discuss the poll’s results on Oct. 24 recommended that people maintain a primary care physician and be completely upfront with them. 97 percent of male respondents to the poll who had prostate screening performed reported that they had a primary care physician, whereas 72 percent of those who did not get screened lacked one.

“It’s not one size fits all,” Dr. Michael Herman, South Nassau’s director of urological oncology, said of the guidelines for prostate cancer screening and treatment. Having a primary care physician with which to discuss risks, he said, is key to reducing the confusion of when to start getting screened and at what intervals.

The panel also recommended getting informed online by visiting websites for the American Cancer Society, the National Institutes of Health and other credible institutions, as well as researching family history for prevalence of certain cancers.

“The best outcomes come from informed patients who do their homework and know about their history and risk factors,” said Dr. Christine Hodyl, director of breast surgery at South Nassau.

Other findings of the poll discussed included the race and financial factors that influenced whether or not one regularly screened for cancers, not just for breast and prostate but also colon and rectal cancers.

Barish, who lamented the lack of discussion surrounding men’s prostate health, encouraged the kinds of efforts to increase awareness that worked so well for breast cancer she said, “Education is the answer.”