The head of the Department of Urological Oncology at INCan, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, emphasized that OPUS is the only free, comprehensive prostate cancer treatment program in Latin America, whose aim is to diagnose the disease in a timely manner and offer multidisciplinary treatment.
He stressed that it is important to raise awareness among the population that prostate cancer is one of the main causes of death among men in Mexico: more than 25,000 cases are detected every year and more than 7,500 die for this reason.
The program is open to all men over 40 years old, with or without social security, who, after evaluation, undergo a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, a rectal examination or, if necessary, a transrectal or transperineal biopsy.
Men with a confirmatory diagnosis complete extension studies and begin medical, nutritional and psychological treatment at INCan or their legal facility.
The PSA test involves taking a blood sample for laboratory analysis to determine the presence of certain proteins.
Patients arriving with metastatic disease receive combined treatment with hormone therapy, chemotherapy and therapy with the latest generation antiandrogens, radiation therapy and management in the pain clinic.
Since OPUS began in 2019, more than three thousand people have been treated and 700 patients have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, said the specialist, who explained that the main cause of the delay in diagnosing this disease is the lack of information.
Another reason why they do not have the test done is the natural rejection of the prostate exam because it is done through the rectum, which has a psychological effect.
He pointed out that the risk factors for cancer include age over 40 years, family history of cancer, obesity, smoking, alcoholism, little physical activity and poor diet, and previous inflammatory prostate disease.
Prostate cancer is a malignant tumor that occurs when the cells of this organ begin to grow uncontrollably and mainly affects people over 45 years of age.
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