In Mexico, prostate cancer is the number one tumor that affects men over 50 years of age, and its incidence increases with age.
In interview with The EconomistDr. Miguel Ángel Jiménez Ríos, a specialist in Oncological Urology at the National Institute of Cancerology (Inca), highlighted that in 2020 alone, 27,000 new cases of prostate cancer were reported, of which 7,500 died from this cause, which should be considered as a focus of attention to generate more awareness among men that they should go to the doctor for regular check-ups.
“If we go to the National Institute of Cancerology, of these new cases that arise, seven or eight out of 10 arrive in an incurable stage, which greatly deteriorates the quality of life of patients and also the treatment is more expensive than when the disease is in an early stage,” he explained.
Risk factor’s
According to the specialist, among the main risk factors are:
• Family background. Genetic factors might put some men at higher risk.
• Having African-American descent.
• Age. It is more frequent after 50 years of age.
• Obesity. People with weight problems are at higher risk.
Symptoms
Doctor Jiménez Rios emphasized that prostate cancer when it is in its initial stages does not give symptoms, in such a way that he recommends that men over 40 years of age should undergo a prostate antigen study and go to the doctor for a digital rectal examination, since In this way, any anomaly that could be treated in time can be determined.
“The numbers of prostate antigen are important, although it is not a marker of cancer if it guides us a lot in the possibility of diagnosis, in such a way that we always give it a numerical value and between 40 and 50 years of age it should be below 1, if the patient has more than that, it is necessary to investigate to rule out that cancer is not the cause”.
Finally, he added that if this disease is detected in time, the possibility of returning to normal life after treatment is greater.