November is "men's cancer" awareness month, including prostate cancer, which is the most common malignant tumour diagnosed in men in Poland. On this occasion, patients from the Prostate Section of the "UroConti" Association are once again encouraging preventive examinations and calling for not cancelling appointments with specialists and expanding access to modern treatment.
MOVEMBER 2021 - IN PROSTATE CANCER IT IS CRUCIAL TO DETECT THE DISEASE QUICKLY AND IMPLEMENT TREATMENT AT THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE STAGE
Movember is a combination of two English words: moustache and november, which means November. It is also the name of a campaign whose identifying feature is a moustache grown by men as a sign of solidarity, but also to draw attention to the prevention of male cancers, particularly prostate and testicular cancer. The campaign's organisers want to encourage men to have regular check-ups, as only through these can early detection of the disease be possible, which in turn increases the chances of a complete cure.
Don't give up on your appointments and get your PSA tested!
Prostate cancer usually affects older men, but it is becoming increasingly common among much younger men - men in their forties leading active personal and professional lives. The cancer usually develops asymptomatically, so it is not easy to detect without regular preventive examinations. Statistically, prostate cancer is diagnosed in one in seven men in Poland, which gives about 300-400 diagnoses per week and about 16-20 thousand per year, although according to experts COVID-19 has appreciably stopped detection, so now doctors are facing the so-called health debt, i.e. a sudden increase in the number of patients with prostate cancer and in much more advanced stages.
- Throughout the pandemic, our Association received signals from regional branches, firstly regarding the withholding of diagnostic tests, which then lengthened the queues, and secondly about patients cancelling appointments already made, without prior consultation with the attending doctor," says Boguslaw Olawski, chairman of the Prostate Section of the 'UroConti' Association. - We did, and still do, everything to encourage men to turn up at outpatient clinics, although I understood their fears of being infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We then quote the experts' words that COVID may not kill them, but untreated cancer will!
Bogusław Olawski is very concerned about the statistics, which show not only that two-thirds of men do not feel the need for prophylactic tests and only go to the doctor at the instigation of women (wives, partners or daughters), but also that only 37 per cent of men between the ages of 55 and 65 have had a PSA test, although this should be done by all men and as soon as they reach their 40s.
Have a level playing field in treatment!
On the occasion of the Movember campaign to encourage male cancer prevention, the patients of the UroConti Prostate Section once again reiterated their priorities, which included a call for the expansion of the drug programme to include modern hormonal therapies for the treatment of prostate cancer before metastasis, the lifting of the ban on sequential treatment or the introduction of a fast-track to allow the immediate replacement of, for example, tablets instead of capsules, which are more difficult to swallow.
- Despite our long-standing efforts, patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer who have not yet developed metastases (so-called M0 patients) have still not been granted access to reimbursed modern drugs: apalutamide, darolutamide and enzalutamide, which has already been used successfully in patients after metastases,' Bogusław Olawski mentions. - Meanwhile, the November reimbursement list was the last one that could introduce changes this year. We are very disappointed that the Ministry still has not decided to ensure that patients before metastases have access to appropriate treatment. Especially as we were assured that this would happen at the end of the holidays or in early autumn," adds Chairman Olawski and emphasises that we are talking about treatment that not only delays the occurrence of metastases, but also extends overall survival!
Equally incomprehensible to Bogusław Olawski are the signals coming from one of the manufacturers of the drug about allowing Polish patients to take tablets instead of the currently reimbursed capsules, which are larger and may be more difficult for patients to swallow. - To be honest, I was convinced that this would be a mere formality, as such a change does not generate any additional costs, but can significantly affect convenience. Please remember that our patients usually take a whole bunch of medicines, so ease of swallowing is important to them. Apparently, however, it does not for officials,' says Bogusław Olawski, bitterly, and points out that, after all, the ministry announced in the draft amendments to the Refund Act provisions enabling the Minister of Health, without unnecessary delay, to extend reimbursement to pharmaceutical forms which do not affect the size of the population eligible for treatment or the costs incurred by the public payer.
Source: uroconti.pl