FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: Jennifer Hart, (713) 792-0654
Michael Courtney, (713) 792-0663 [email protected]
PBS television documentary features M. D. Anderson experts
Hour-long program on prostate cancer to air nationwide
HOUSTON--Experts from one of the world's leading prostate cancer treatment and research programs play center stage in a Public Broadcast Service television documentary airing nationwide next week.
The documentary features a number of physicians from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, including Drs. Andrew C. von Eschenbach, Richard Babaian, Christopher Logothetis, Curtis Pettaway and Christopher Wood -- all faculty of the center's Prostate Cancer Research Program. Production crews visited M. D. Anderson several times over several recent months to follow these physicians and their patients.
Titled, Prostate Cancer: A Journey of Hope, the documentary airs in Houston at 9 p.m. Friday, June 11, on KUHT-TV Ch. 8. Viewers in other cities should check their local television listings to confirm broadcast date and time.
The program stresses the importance of early detection for the disease, as well as the recommendation that men age 50 and older obtain an annual Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test and a digital rectal exam.
Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, a prostate cancer survivor himself, narrates the educational documentary. The program addresses the realities of prostate cancer while showing the strength and optimism of patients and their families affected by the disease.
"There are still many uncertainties about prostate cancer itself, diagnosing the disease and selecting an appropriate treatment. But early detection is today's best weapon for many men afflicted with the disease," says M. D. Anderson's Dr. von Eschenbach, who also will appear on KUHT-TV Ch. 8's Weeknight Edition at 5 p.m. Monday, June 7, to discuss the documentary and prostate cancer in general.
"Men are suffering and dying from prostate cancer and, as you will see in the documentary, coping with the disease presents a range of problems and choices for patients and their families as they seek care," he said.
Dr. von Eschenbach directs M. D. Anderson's multidisciplinary Prostate Cancer Research Program, involving more than 30 separate research projects conducted by teams of basic scientists and physicians.
"Our faculty, support personnel and a highly motivated advisory board are collaborating in new research to better understand the biology of prostate cancer and translate that knowledge into more effective treatments and prevention strategies," he said.
"The film demonstrates how we are attempting to always deliver state-of-the-art care while tailoring that care to the needs and circumstances of the individual patient," he added.
Prostate cancer will strike nearly 180,000 American men this year, killing an estimated 37,000 -- or about 100 men per day. It is the most frequently occurring malignancy (next to skin cancers) and the second-leading cause of cancer death among American men after lung cancer. Last year alone, a total of 39,000 men in the United States died of prostate cancer, up from 30,000 in 1990.
For more information about prostate cancer screening and treatment at M. D. Anderson, call 1-800-392-1611 (Touch 3) or check the website at www.mdanderson.org.
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6/2/99
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