What's the Best Gift to Give Your Dad? Urologist Dr. Ashutosh Tewari Offers Tips on Prostate Cancer Prevention and Testing

New York, New York (PRWEB) June 14, 2013

With Father's Day here, now is the perfect time to show that special man in your life that you care. Not by buying him a necktie, but by helping him take charge of his health.

Dr. Ashutosh Tewari, a leading urologist and the director of the Center for Prostate Cancer at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical College, shares tips on what men need to know about prostate cancer prevention and screening. After skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men, with a lifetime risk of about 1 in 6.

Prostate Cancer Prevention

The exact cause of prostate cancer is not known, so any advice about ways to prevent prostate cancer is somewhat speculative. But the American Cancer Society and many experts recommend maintaining a healthy weight, eating a variety of healthful foods derived from plants, and limiting consumption of high-fat and processed meat and dairy.

Certain specific foods have been linked to prostate cancer prevention, such as fatty fish, tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables, green tea, and soy products such as tofu. "Adding these foods to your diet won't guarantee you won't get prostate cancer, but including healthful foods in your diet has numerous other health benefits," says Dr. Tewari. He also notes that there have been several recent studies linking dietary changes to prostate cancer, and the Center for Prostate Cancer plans to open several clinical trials in the coming months to better understand the role of diet and prostate cancer aggressiveness.

Prostate Cancer Screening

Because prostate cancer can often be symptomless, detecting it early is critical. Prostate cancer is most often diagnosed by a digital rectal examination and/or by early testing of the amount of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood.

In recent years, debate about the value of PSA testing has made headlines, leaving many men confused about whether or not to get screened and how often. Today, there are no universally accepted guidelines for prostate cancer screening; the most common advice is to confer with your doctor.

Dr. Tewari advises that men should discuss prostate cancer screening with their doctor at age 55 to make an informed decision, earlier if they have a family history, consistent with the American Urological Association (AUA) recommendations. "Many men might think that these newer guidelines suggest you don't need to worry about prostate cancer. That's not true. The guidelines just mean that men need to become more educated about what the results actually mean so they can make informed decisions about their health. Active surveillance could be a viable treatment option for many men, and we have one of the largest active surveillance programs in the country."

Dr. Tewari is also excited about newer tests and technologies that, when used in conjunction with a PSA test, can offer a better predictor of aggressiveness and staging of prostate cancer. "At the Center for Prostate Cancer, we also use genomic biomarkers and advanced imaging such as MRI to help guide decision making for men with a high PSA result. This year we have added fusion biopsy to our clinical practice. Using the Artemis