Prostate Puzzle

Confusion over detection and treatment of prostate cancer

from: Inside E Street | May 1, 2011

One in six American men will get prostate cancer in his lifetime. More than 30,000 die of prostate cancer every year, making it the second leading cause of cancer deaths after lung cancer.

See also: When to treat prostate cancer

Dr. Edward Schaeffer discusses prostate cancer on Inside E Street

Despite significant advances, there’s much confusion about detection and treatment of the disease among many patients and doctors alike. It is still uncertain who should be tested and what the right treatments are for men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Inside E Street tries to sorts out the confusion and get a clearer understanding of how to approach this potentially deadly disease. Lark McCarthy talks with Dr. Peter Pinto, a urologic oncologist and Senior Surgeon at the National Cancer Institute, and Dr. Jonathan Hwang, a urologic oncologist at the Washington Hospital Center, about the confusion over the treatments and the screening and its impact on patients and doctors. Lark is also joined by Calvin Lawrence, ABCNews.com editor, who was only days away from undergoing prostate surgery that he didn’t need.