One in six Albertan men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.
"That's the bad news," noted Ken Rabb, Man Van program manager. "The good news is it's very treatable when caught early, about 95 per cent treatable when caught early."
That's one of the reasons why the Man Van, an initiative offered through the Prostate Cancer Centre out of Calgary, makes stops in rural communities to provide men from 40 to 80-years-old access to the mobile clinic.
Over 45,000 men have been tested since the program was launched in 2009. Since then, it's expanded to include tests for blood pressure, blood sugar, waist circumference, and stress.
According to Rabb, the risk of prostate cancer increases with age, and it's less common for men under the age of 40.
The free service provides Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood testing, which gives the patient a baseline number that can be tracked over the years.
"We want to promote early detection. A lot of men don't know what the test is, a lot of men don't go to the doctor, especially in rural communities, so we try to bring this health clinic to them. That's why we started offering blood pressure, blood sugar, waist circumference measurement, and stress test measurements as well, because men are busy. We understand that they might not go to the doctors as regularly as they should," detailed Rabb.
He stressed only around half a teaspoon of blood is required.
"We tell guys all the time, 'it's a blood test, not a glove test.' No one's taking their pants off in the Man Van. That's one kind of myth that we try to dispel. The glove test is called the Digital Rectal Exam, and a doctor might recommend that they do that, but all we're doing on the Man Van is that blood test," emphasized Rabb.
The service is provided on a first come, first serve basis. No health card is required, but an address is needed so they can mail the results, which generally takes two weeks. If they're high, they may call to recommend a follow-up with a doctor.
"The whole process, depending on the line up, could take as quick as 10 minutes, and we'll get them through as quickly as possible so they can go about their day," Rabb noted.
Rabb suggested keeping the results, and comparing them year-to-year. While it's normal for the number to go up over time, he strongly recommended a doctor's appointment to be scheduled "if there's a big increase or jump."
The Man Van will be making two stops locally, one on Monday, August 19 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. It will be located in Bonnyville at the ATB, 4902 50 Ave. Later that day, it will head to the ATB in Cold Lake located at 6501 51 St., where it will stay from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
