For several years now, November has been dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of men's health, especially in terms of prevention and early detection of cancer, thanks to the international Movember movement. Experts and representatives of patients' associations are highlighting the importance of preventive screening, as early detection of cancer means a better chance of a cure.
Movember is an international movement to raise men's awareness about health and diseases affecting the male population, including prostate and testicular cancer, as well as depression. In addition to raising awareness, Movember members also collect donations for charities related to men's health,
Simon Hawlina, President of the Association of Urologists: "I am very supportive of Movember as it breaks taboos and raises awareness of prostate or testicular cancer in men. Men are very reluctant to go to the doctor. But they need to be made aware that the earlier you go for a prostate or testicular check-up and find cancer, the better the chance of a cure. The moustache is a nice symbol to remind people that an occasional preventive check-up at the doctor's can be very useful."
Sandi Poteko, Head of the Department of Urology at Celje General Hospital, also stressed the importance of early diagnosis of cancer and said that bladder cancer is also a problem in urology for men. Modern medicine is not as successful in treating this cancer as it is in treating prostate and testicular cancers, which is why the survival rate of patients suffering from this disease is lower.
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Organised screening aims to reduce mortality from overdiagnosis and overtreatment of non-aggressive tumours. Photo: Movember
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The Oncology Institute, together with the University Clinical Centre Ljubljana and the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics in Ljubljana, has already started to prepare the expert basis for the sustainable implementation of the new prostate cancer screening. Photo: Movember
While the 5-year survival rate for testicular cancer patients is 97% and for prostate cancer patients 95%, the 5-year survival rate for bladder cancer patients is 55%. In addition to the importance of early diagnosis, the most important known risk factors for this cancer are smoking, long-term use of certain analgesics and occupational exposure to carcinogens.
Igor Antauer, spokesman for the Urological Patients' Association: "The Association is committed to encouraging men to have regular check-ups. Men have a poor discipline in visiting doctors."
Preventive screening is very important, and the already high survival rate for prostate cancer would be even better if the authorities introduced a screening programme. The programme has already been given the green light, he said, and will be followed by a study and, on the basis of that study, the development of a testing methodology.
Date: 9. November 2023
Time to read: 2 min
