Biden is among thousands to get prostate cancer this year. Where to get tested in NC
Former President Joe Biden’s Stage 4 prostate cancer diagnosis served as a reminder of the importance of cancer screenings.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of natural deaths among North Carolina men, behind lung cancer, according to the UNC Men’s Health program. The prostate is a gland that lies between a male’s bladder and rectum and is part of his reproductive anatomy.
Biden’s team announced his diagnosis Sunday afternoon, saying that he had an increase in urinary symptoms which led to the finding of a prostate nodule. Biden’s team said his form of prostate cancer is aggressive and has spread into his bones.
Across the country, more than 180,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, and around 40,000 will die from it. But if caught early, UNC Health says that almost all men with this diagnosis can live five or more years. That drops to 34% once it spreads.
The American Cancer Society lists seven medical facilities where men can go to get screened for prostate cancer within a 50-mile radius of Raleigh. All seven also offer screenings for cervical, lung, breast and colorectal cancers.
Those include:
▪ UNC Rex Healthcare of Wakefield, Raleigh
▪ Durham VA Medical Center, Durham
▪ University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
▪ Johnston Healthcare, Smithfield
▪ Carolina Urgent Care, Durham
▪ Carolina Urgent Care, Chapel Hill
Call the American Cancer Society at 800-227-2345 or use the chat feature on the group’s website, cancer.org, to find out about options for potentially free screenings.
A 2021 study by the UNC Men’s Health Program found that only 52% of men in North Carolina were screened for prostate cancer.
Symptom free
More than 8,000 men in North Carolina were diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2021. Among them was Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville. In March 2021, he publicly announced he would undergo surgery after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. Tillis said he didn’t have any symptoms.
“I am blessed that my cancer was detected relatively early, and I can’t emphasize enough how important routine screenings are, regardless of how healthy you think you are,” Tillis said then. “I had no symptoms and would have never imagined I had cancer. My prognosis is good because I went to my annual physical and received a PSA test, which led to a biopsy and eventually my diagnosis. Early detection can truly save lives.”
Tillis was among the first in North Carolina to react to Biden’s news Sunday, posting on social media that he and his wife Susan “are saddened to hear about President Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis and are praying for his full recovery.”
Annual physicals
UNC encourages all men between 19 and 49 to receive physicals at least every two years, and an annual physical after 50. Even if a patient is healthy, the routine screenings give doctors a patient’s baseline for blood pressure, cholesterol, weight and other things so that if something does go awry, a doctor knows what is normal for that individual.
Between 50 and 69, but as early as 40, a prostate screening is done annually to ensure that a patient remains healthy. After 69, doctors will work with their patients individually to determine if a prostate exam is still necessary.
Biden is 82.
Prostate cancer is most common in Black men or those with a family history, especially with a father or brother who was diagnosed.
Prostate exams
In February, state Rep. Rodney Pierce, a Democrat from Halifax County, proposed a bill to provide $4 million to fund free or low-cost prostate screenings and follow-up care to uninsured or underinsured men in North Carolina.
That same month, in Congress, Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Murphy of Greenville was among lawmakers who proposed requiring insurance companies to cover screenings without imposing any cost-sharing requirements on men at high risk of prostate cancer.
A prostate exam can include a prostate-specific antigen blood test, a digital rectal exam and a biopsy.
Murphy, a urologist, encouraged men to ensure their doctor don’t stop at the PSA blood test, but also conduct a rectal exam to catch potential signs of cancer the blood test might miss.
“A man with a ‘below normal’ PSA can still have prostate cancer,” Murphy wrote on social media. “This is why a rectal examination by your physician must ALSO be done. Unfortunately, some doctors are forgoing critical examination and relying only on the blood test. Make sure your doctor does both.”
Biden received an outpouring of support from lawmakers, including Democrats and Republicans in North Carolina, who wished him a speedy recovery.
