Health

Late presentation for prostate cancer concerning

November 6, 2019 4:10 pm

Late presentation for prostate cancer is a serious concern raised by CWM General Surgeon, Dr. Ilaitia Delasau.

Delasau says that most men do not turn up at all to hospitals for general check-ups until the disease they carry is really bad.

The Health Ministry has recently revealed that approximately 30 to 40 Fijians are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year.

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Delasau says Prostate Cancer is quite high in Fiji but the pick-up rate is low, so man is presenting at a late stage when things are quite late.

“It’s a huge problem in Fiji where men, in particular, present very late when they are close to death’s door where all we can do is control the symptoms with medications and if we do surgery its more to control the symptoms it is not to cure”

He stressed the importance of early presentation for any sort of cancer.

“So if they are still within the organ, we can remove it surgically and you can be cured when they metastasized, we say when they spread it deep into the organ or they spread to other parts of the body the lung and the liver is the areas where this cancer can spread, once they spread into this other organs, the cure is going out of the window”

Delasau adds that every man must put their health first for their family and for Fiji and exercise should be a must as obesity is also a risk to Cancer.