Stars point way for saving lives

PAIGE WISER | Prostate screenings thankfully becoming cause celebre

April 16, 2008

Prostate cancer suffers from a public relations problem: Nobody likes to think about the prostate.

You're probably not sure where it is, for one thing -- just that it is in the delicate neighborhood of the testicles.

Then there is the fear that you might mix up the words "prostate" and "prostrate," making yourself seem both medically and grammatically uninformed.

While everyone can agree that prostate cancer is bad, the screenings can be a tough sell. Men don't want to talk about it. Certainly not at dinner. ("Don't worry about it," my husband said quickly when I brought it up.)

That's why the Sun-Times has designated me to tell you about the free screenings that we are sponsoring with the National Prostate Cancer Coalition. From Monday through April 26, from Country Club Hills to Kankakee, mobile clinics will offer the screenings from medical personnel, in private.

Your typical health reporter might try to get your attention with statistics. One in six men will get prostate cancer, for instance. And when it's caught early, nearly 100 percent of them survive.

Impressive information, yes, but then your typical health reporter would forget the celebrity angle. If you don't know someone with prostate cancer -- or if you don't know you know someone with prostate cancer -- it helps to put a human face on the disease. Finally you have an answer: This is what celebrities are good for.

Bob Dole was one of the first to go public with his cancer, in 1992. The fearless politician even sponsored screenings at the Republican convention in Houston. If anything good came out of his experience, at least we know he ended up with a healthy Viagra discount.

It's recommended that men get yearly screenings beginning at age 50 -- or even 40, say some organizations. Among the famous names who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer:

• Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.)

• Activist Nelson Mandela

• Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre

• Singer Harry Belafonte

• Golfer Arnold Palmer

• Politician Rudy Giuliani

• Music legend Robert Goulet

Those men were all screened in time. Some celebrities weren't so lucky.

Because of prostate cancer ...

• Telly Savalas didn't live to see his goddaughter Jennifer Aniston make it big.

• Bill Bixby didn't live to make an appearance in the "Hulk" movie.

• Frank Zappa and Timothy Leary didn't live to -- well, I have no idea what they'd be doing, but I'm sure it would blow our minds.

Whether or not you want to talk about it, you owe it to yourself and your family to get screened. Go to Page 15 for a listing of locations. The Sun-Times couldn't make it any easier, or any freer.

That's right. Free!

In celebrity terms, you could think of it as health swag.