President Biden’s diagnosis sheds light on prevalence of prostate cancer
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – For prostate cancer survivors in Colorado Springs, former President Joe Biden's diagnosis of late-stage, aggressive prostate cancer rings home and emphasizes the importance of yearly screening.
Leo Nunes, a prostate cancer survivor and advocate for better legislation surrounding treatment, says the former president's diagnosis is baffling.
"He should have been getting the best care and treatment from doctors as the leader of, you know, a superpower nation, and it just baffles me how it went undetected for so long," Nunes said.
According to the American Cancer Society, about 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. The organization estimates over 35,000 men will die from it in 2025 alone.
Last September, KRDO13 spoke with Nunes about his daily climbs of the Manitou Springs Incline to raise money for research and advocacy after being diagnosed himself, and choosing not to get surgical removal.
RELATED: Hiking the Manitou Incline 30 times in 30 days to raise Prostate Cancer Awareness
Today, Nunes spoke to us from Florida, where he's getting a new type of treatment not offered in Colorado.
"When you catch later-stage advanced prostate cancers, that survivability rate for five years drops to under 40%," Nunes said. "So, preventative testing and early detection are key for survivability with this type of cancer."
Dr. Eric Derksen, a Colorado Springs urologist specializing in the treatment and detection of prostate cancer, concurs.
"The biggest thing with prostate cancer is finding it early. So if we find it early, it's almost always curable," Derksen said. "PSA is a great initial screening tool, but it's not a perfect tool."
PSA, or Prostate-Specific Antigen testing, is a blood test that can be worked into yearly blood tests for men who are at risk of developing Prostate Cancer. However, Derksen says it's not a perfect tool. Even if the PSA test comes back positive, doctors will do additional testing to see if the cancer is present.
Derksen says it's a way to detect the cancer early, instead of detecting nodules or lumps in the stereotypical, invasive prostate exam in its later stages.
For Derksen, treating and detecting cancer is personal.
"Both my dad and my mom's dad had prostate cancer ... it was advanced when we found it, kind of like Joe Biden's," he said. "I just have a passion for treating it because we can treat it and we can get it into remission."
Jeff Rueckert, a Colorado Springs prostate cancer survivor, says he's lucky to be alive after his diagnosis nearly eight years ago.
"That's the key. Catch it as early as possible," Rueckert said. "My very first test was when I was diagnosed."
Nunes is now preparing to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in his continued efforts to raise money for prostate cancer support and research. To support him in his most recent climb for a cause, click here.
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