[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 14270]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                NATIONAL PROSTATE CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. President, today I rise to recognize 
September as National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Prostate cancer 
is one of the most common types of cancer in men. Approximately one in 
six men will be diagnosed with this disease during their lifetime and 
it is estimated that over 240,000 men will be diagnosed with and over 
33,000 men will die from the disease this year. While no cure has been 
found, early detection presents our best chance at saving lives. Public 
awareness of prostate cancer is improving but statistics demonstrate 
that more can be done to make awareness and early detection of this 
disease a national priority.
  The odds of successfully treating this disease improve with early 
detection, and health experts recommend that men begin receiving yearly 
screenings at age 50 or sooner for those men at high risk for the 
disease. In fact, studies have found that approximately 98 percent of 
men diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer are still living 10 
years later, while only 18 percent of those diagnosed at advanced 
stages of the disease survive the first decade. More than 2 million men 
in the United States who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer at 
some point in their lives are still alive today. National Prostate 
Cancer Awareness Month is a reminder that early detection is vital in 
successfully treating this disease and, through screening, we truly can 
save lives.
  I am proud to add my voice to those who are working to fight prostate 
cancer, and I take this opportunity to recognize the families, 
professionals and advocates who work day after day to be a powerful 
voice for prostate cancer patients. I commend them on their tireless 
efforts to raise awareness of the risks, to promote early detection and 
treatment, and to further our efforts to understand and eliminate this 
disease. I urge all citizens to promote the use of early detection 
screening tests and to help advance the search for a cure of prostate 
cancer while supporting those individuals and families who face this 
devastating disease.
  I appreciate this opportunity to increase awareness about the 
importance of early detection in our efforts to defeat prostate cancer 
and express my support for those Americans fighting the battle against 
this disease.

                          ____________________