Awareness of prostate cancer among Malaysian men still very low, says oncologist

Dr Wong Siew Wei

MIRI (Oct 5): Prostate cancer is said to be among four most common cancers in the world, yet the awareness of it is still very low among Malaysian men.

Dr Wong Siew Wei, who is senior consultant and medical oncologist at Parkway Cancer Centre, highlighted data from 2020 that stated about over 1.4 million cases of prostate cancer being diagnosed globally.

“Between 2012 and 2016, there were 1,600 prostate cancer cases reported in Malaysia. It is noted that prostate cancer is now the third most common cancer affecting Malaysian men, and the second among Singaporean men,” he told The Borneo Post here recently.

According to Dr Wong, the major factor of prostate cancer is ageing – ‘the longer the lifespan of a man, the higher the risk of him getting prostate cancer’.

In relation to this, he also talked about prostate enlargement, which he said most men might experience at some point in their lives and in this regard, they should begin to be more alert upon turning 65 years old.

The symptoms associated with prostate enlargement are the frequent need to urinate especially at night, difficulty in starting urination, having weak urine stream, and inability to empty the bladder completely.

“It (prostate enlargement) is a natural part of ageing, but the condition can be addressed through medication, which can help relax the muscles and ease the process of urination.”

Dr Wong stressed that the point of discussing prostate enlargement and prostate cancer at the same was that either case would be indicated by higher-than-normal level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) exhibited in a blood test.

“When the level of PSA, the protein produced by the cells in the prostate gland, is higher than normal, it would be pointing toward prostate enlargement or prostate cancer, and medical attention is much needed for either one.

“Sadly, more than 50 per cent of prostate cancer cases were detected at Stage 4; it seems that many had overlooked and mistaken the high PSA level as indicating prostate enlargement, and not cancer,” he said.

Dr Wong advised those whose families had cancer history to undertake genetic testing.

“Unlike biomarker test – also known as companion diagnostic test – that any ordinary person can get, genetic testing is used to find out if someone has inherited any mutation that make them more likely to get cancer. Inherited mutations are those you are born with.

“I would not usually suggest patients to get genetic testing because the result may affect the eligibility for getting health insurance. The report would indicate a certain percentage of the likelihood to get cancer.

“However, if there’s any record in your family history that points to that direction (cancer), then you should undertake genetic testing,” he said.

Nonetheless, Dr Wong advocated early detection and gaining more knowledge about the disease, stressing: “Early detection is always better than treatment.”

“I feel that the treatments for prostate cancer such as chemotherapy, surgery or immunotherapy, only help prolong a patient’s life, and not necessarily improve his quality of life.

“In cases where the prostate cancer patients who passed away, the cause might not necessarily be cancer, as they could be due of other geriatric conditions,” he said.

from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3SUmwJp
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