Unbelievably, one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime – and one in 36 will die from it. Prostate cancer is second only to skin cancer as the most common cancer in American men and second only to lung cancer as the leading cancer-based cause of death in American men. The American Cancer Society estimates that in the U.S. during 2011, about 240,890 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed, and 33,720 men will die from it.
But the good news is that if prostate cancer is caught early, nearly 100% of affected men survive their first five post-diagnosis years.
According to the American Cancer Society, more than 2 million men in the United States who have already been diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point are still alive today. The numbers say it all: Get tested!
What is the Eddie Check Free PSA Test & Blood Drive?
In 2004, Rockford-based Nisus Corporation teamed up with area hospitals and MEDIC Regional Blood Center to add free PSA screening for prostate cancer to blood drives. It was a simple strategy using MEDIC's already existing resources to make it fast and easy for men to get a blood sample drawn for the screening. Nisus has a personal stake in the fight; company president Kevin L. Kirkland lost his father, Eddie Kirkland, to the disease, while marketing vice president Jim Gorman is a prostate cancer survivor. In fact, “Eddie Check” is named for Eddie Kirkland.
Eddie Check will be held at 12 locations in seven East Tennessee Counties. Blood samples for PSA screening will be taken at every location during all hours, even if you don’t donate blood.
