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A “silent killer”
A survivor explains how to beat prostate cancer
Charlie Austin is a funny man.
But when he says that he has been blessed, he is not joking.
By all accounts, Austin should have died years ago, back when he was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1994.
The disease was so bad that it had spread throughout his body and caused his doctor to determine that Austin’s cancer was inoperable and incurable.
His chance for survival was slim. A normal measurement of PSA, a protein that is made by the prostate, is between one and four. Austin’s was 650, a clear sign of cancer.
“The beast was getting ready to kill me,” Austin said.
Most troublesome, at least to Austin, was that he never saw — or felt — it coming. “Prostate cancer was not even on the radar screen,” Austin said. “I didn’t know about it until I was diagnosed. And that’s the scariest thing. It’s a silent killer.”
Austin is right. In general, men run a 1-in-6 chance of developing prostate cancer at some point in their lives. It is the most common non-skin cancer among men in this country and the third most deadly. More than 234,000 new cases are expected this year in the United States, with about 27,000 deaths.
For unknown reasons, African American men have the highest rate of prostate cancer in the world. According to the National Cancer Institute, from 1998-2002, the rate of new cases of prostate cancer was 272 per 100,000 males for black men versus 169 for whites. Death rates from the disease were 68.1 for blacks and 27.2 for whites, a difference of 250 percent.
At the time of his diagnosis, Austin was a well-respected general assignment reporter for WBZ-TV. He was in the information business, and still even he didn’t know anything about the disease.
“It is now that I realize that I didn’t know because I didn’t ask.”
The prostate is a small gland that is part of a man’s reproductive system. It produces seminal fluid that nourishes and helps transport sperm. The prostate is situated in front of the rectum and beneath the bladder. Like a donut, it surrounds the urethra, a thin tube that transports urine from the bladder.
Several things can go wrong with the prostate. It can become inflamed, enlarged, or cancerous. The prostate has two growth periods. It grows to about the size of a walnut during the male’s sexual maturation, and often grows again in the fourth or fifth decade. Most men in this country over the age of 50 will experience some symptoms from prostate growth.
The growth itself is not an indicator of cancer. Men commonly experience a benign non-cancerous growth of the prostate called benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH. BPH is not cancer. It does not spread to other parts of the body or other organs.
If a tumor is not benign, it is malignant or cancerous. Malignant tumors may grow back if removed and can invade other parts of the body. Prostate cancer can spread to the lymph nodes, the bones, and other organs, if left unchecked.
And that is where Austin’s doctor found it — all over the place.
Austin underwent 38 sessions of radiation therapy. In addition, Austin was injected regularly with Lupron, a new drug at the time that attacked the prostate cancer cells and prevented them from growing. “We had to stop the beast from spreading to my bones and lungs and kidneys,” Austin said.
The treatments worked and Austin gives credit to Dr. Frank McGovern at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“Without his care, you would be talking with a ghost,” Austin said.
Austin’s experience is typical and may have been avoided had he had regular physical exams. Austin became so upset over his lack of knowledge that he has committed the rest of his life to spreading the word.
For the last several years, Austin has worked with Minister Don Muhammad and the Nation of Islam as well as Rev. Michael Haynes of the 12th Street Baptist Church to talk about his experience.
Because of his efforts, Austin earned the attention of several prestigious medical organizations. In fact, one of them, Massachusetts Prostate Cancer Coalition, named an award after him to be given to an individual with courage, determination, good humor and devotion to public education.
Not so surprisingly, Austin received the first award for “Outstanding Service in Prostate Cancer Awareness.”
“I’m just glad I’m not being honored posthumously,” he said during the ceremony before choking up. “You have no idea what this means to me.”
Austin said that it would mean even more if everyone knew their PSA count, especially black men. Every black man should talk to his doctor about whether he should get the test.
The PSA test — measured by a simple blood test — is just one recommendation. The other is a digital rectal exam where a clinician inserts a lubricated, gloved finger into the rectum to feel for hard or lumpy areas in the prostate.
As Austin tells the story, a lot of men are antsy about those exams. “They need to get over it,” Austin said. “The alternative, well, there is no alternative. You can’t get a real cure started until it is properly diagnosed.”
Austin should know. He is 62 years old now, and has survived not only prostate cancer, but two aneurysms and a stroke as well. Austin’s cancer is in remission but he still must undergo annual exams.
It’s a life-long battle.
He also made another point. “Before anyone even gets an exam, they should know how to pronounce the name of the disease,” Austin said. “It’s pros-TATE. Not pros-TRATE. You don’t want to be prostrate with a bad prostate.”
It was his own little joke, but Austin laughed and laughed. |
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